Manhattan Film Academy Faculty | Manhattan Film Academy is a New York City based collaborative of Oscar & Emmy-nominated award winning American & European filmmakers. It offers students a unique opportunity to learn firts-hand from professional writers, directors, cinematographers, and editors. Site contains info about films and DV courses in Manhattan and Dubai, UAE

Agnieszka Holland – writer-director

Two-time Oscar® nominee [EUROPA, EUROPA, 1991, & ANGRY HARVEST, 1986], winner of Golden Globe Award [1991], Cannes Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize Award [1980], New York Film Critics Circle Award [1991], Boston Society of Film Critics Award [1991], and National Board of Review award [1991]. Her credits include writing & directing thirty feature films, including "THE SECRET GARDEN”, her first Hollywood studio production starring Maggie Smith, WASHINGTON SQUARE, a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production starring Jennifer Jason Leigh & Albert Finney, TOTAL ECLIPSE starring Leonardo DiCaprio & David Thewlis, THE THIRD MIRACLE starring Ed Harris & Anne Heche, and many others. She collaborated with prominent American and European directors: Francis Ford Coppola [THE SECRET GARDEN], Sydney Pollack, Krzysztof Kieslowski [WHITE, RED, BLUE], and Andrzej Wajda [DANTON starring Gerard Depardieu]. [MORE]

Slawomir Idziak – cinematographer

An Oscar®, BAFTA, American Film Institute, and CEZAR nominee [BLACK HAWK DOWN, 2002], winner of many awards, including at Venice Film Festival and Berlin Film Festivals. His cinematography credits include sixty films, among them: Harry Potter and Order of Phoenix (2006), King Arthur (2003), BLACK HAWK DOWN (2001), Three Colours: Blue, and THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE. Collaborated with many outstanding directors and actors, including Ridley Scott, Antoine Fuqua, David Yates, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Meg Ryan, Russel Crow, Clive Oven, Ralph Fiennese, and Josh Hartnett. [MORE]

Allan Starski - art director

An Oscar® and CESAR winner, BAFTA and EMMY nominee. His credits include art direction for: SCHINDLER’S LIST, OLIVER TWIST, THE PIANIST, EUROPA EUROPA. Collaborated with outstanding American and European directors, including Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Agnieszka Holland, and Andrzej Wajda. [MORE]

Marlena Grzaslewicz – sound & picture editor

Two-time EMMY nominee for Outstanding Sound Editing. Her picture & sound editing credits include 60 films both fiction & documentaries, among them with such directors as Woody Allen [CELEBRITY], Robert Altman [SHORT CUTS], Milos Forman [THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLINT], Night Shyamalan [WIDE AWAKE], Brian De Palma [CARLITO'S WAY & SNAKE EYES], the most prominent American documentary filmmakers Ken Burns [BASEBALL & LEWIS AND CLARK] & Ric Burns [THE CIVIL WAR & NEW YORK], and many others. The films on which she worked received awards at Sundance Film Festival as well as Oscar® an EMMY nominations. [MORE]

Joe Pennella – cinematographer

His TV credits include cinematography for GOLDEN GLOBE and EMMY winning TV series MONK and LIFE GOES ON, GOLDEN GLOBE and EMMY nominated TV series ED and THE DREW CAREY SHOW. [MORE]

Ira Spiegel - sound designer & sound editor

An EMMY award winner and three-time EMMY nominee for Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Editing. His film credits include120 films both fiction & documentaries, among them with such directors as Spike Lee [SCHOOL DAZE], M. Night Shyamalan [PRAYING WITH ANGER & WIDE AWAKE], Nora Ephron [SLEEPLESS N SEATTLE], Brian De Palma [CARLITO'S WAY & SNAKE EYES],Robert Altman [SHORT CUTS], Milos Forman [THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLINT], PalmaAndrei Konchalovsky [MARIA'S LOVERS], the most prominent American documentary filmmakers Ken Burns [BASEBALL & LEWIS AND CLARK] & Ric Burns [THE CIVIL WAR & NEW YORK], and many others. The films on which he worked received awards at Sundance Film Festival as well as Oscar® an EMMY nominations. [MORE]

Foster Hirsch - author & professor

Renowned American film historian, accomplished author of sixteen books on film and theater (THE DARK SIDE OF THE SCREEN: FILM NOIR, DETOURS AND LOST HIGHWAYS: A MAP OF NEO-NOIR, A METHOD TO THEIR MADNESS: THE HISTORY OF THE ACTORS STUDIO, OTTO PREMINGER: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, ELIZABETH TAYLOR, ACTING HOLLYWOOD STYLE), and Professor of Film at the City University of New. [MORE]

Ella Sloboda - actress

A graduate of the legendary Actor's Studio in New York City; which alumni include: Marlon Brando, James Dean, Marylyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino. Her stage and screen acting career spans three continents: Europe, Australi, and the US.

Robert Tutak – writer-director

MFA Founder & Director. Professor of film at Brooklyn College/CUNY. Written and directed feature films "NOBODY'S PERFECT," 2003, and "MATCH" ["MECZ"], 1988, as well as sixteen shorts and documentaries. His work screened in the US & internationally, most recently at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Cinèthèque du Fresnoy, Cannes Film Festival Marche du Film, and Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. It has been shown in film courses at colleges and universities of New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, London, and Lodz, Poland, and won several international awards (Munich, Germany; San Francisco, Cleveland, USA; Warsaw, Wroclaw Poland). [MORE]