Geeta Gandbhir
Geeta Gandbhir | |
|---|---|
 Gandbhir at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 | |
| Born | Greta Gandbhir September 18, 1970 Boston |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (BA) |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Children | 2 |
Geeta Gandbhir is an American filmmaker known for her work as a director, producer, and editor.[1] Focusing her works on documentary and television series, she has won multiple awards including five Emmy Awards and a Peabody Awards. In 2025 she directed and produced The Perfect Neighbor, focusing on the Killing of Ajike Owens, which earned her an Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Awards nominations.
Early life and education
Gandbhir grew up in the Boston area. Her father Sharad immigrated from India to the US in the 1960s to study chemical engineering and her mother Lalita joined him, with the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Her sister Una S. Gandbhir is a superior court judge for the Third Judicial District serving Anchorage, Alaska.[2] Her brother Ashwin Gandbhir is also a filmmaker and editor.
Gandbhir attended Harvard University to study visual art with a focus on animation. At the school, she was introduced to Spike Lee, who was teaching there, and an editor for Lee, Sam Pollard.
Career
She started her career in narrative film working for Spike Lee and Sam Pollard, and then branched into documentary film. Her films include Hungry to Learn and I Am Evidence.[3]
She was the editor of the Spike Lee-produced HBO documentary film If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise about life after Hurricane Katrina, which won the 2010 Peabody Award.[4]
Gandbhir was a part of the filmmaking team of the PBS film series Asian Americans which won a 2020 Peabody Award.[5] She was a field director for And She Could Be Next, directed by Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia.
Her short film from the HBO series Through Our Eyes: Apart won a 2022 Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Documentary.[6]
In 2023, Gandbhir directed and executive produced Born in Synanon, a documentary series for Paramount+ revolving around Synanon.[7]
In 2025, Gandbhir directed and produced The Perfect Neighbor focusing on the Killing of Ajike Owens.[8] It had its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2025, winning the Directing Award.[9] That same year, she directed and executive produced Katrina: Come Hell and High Water alongside Spike Lee and Samantha Knowles for Netflix.[10]
Filmography
Documentary
| Year | Title | Director | Editor | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | All of Us | No | Yes | No | |
| 2009 | By the People: The Election of Barack Obama | No | Yes | No | Also field producer |
| Budrus | No | Yes | No | ||
| 2010 | Music by Prudence | No | Yes | No | |
| 2011 | The Carrier | No | Yes | No | |
| 2013 | Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington | No | Yes | No | |
| 2014 | Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown | No | Yes | No | Also editor supervisor |
| We the Economy: 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss | Co-director | No | No | ||
| Puppies Behind Bars | Co-director | No | No | ||
| 2015 | A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2017 | I Am Evidence | Yes | No | Yes | |
| The Talk: Race in America | No | No | Yes | ||
| Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge | No | Yes | No | ||
| 2018 | The Sentence | No | No | Co-producer | |
| 2022 | Rise and Rebuild: A Tale of Three Cities | No | No | Executive | |
| A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting | No | No | Executive | ||
| Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2024 | New Wave | No | No | Executive | |
| The Devil Is Busy | Co-director | No | No | ||
| New Wave | No | No | Executive | ||
| Black Table | No | No | Executive | ||
| 2025 | The Perfect Neighbor | Yes | No | Yes | |
| The Gas Station Attendant | No | No | Executive | ||
| Masaka Kids: A Rhythm Within | No | No | Yes |
Television
| Year | Title | Director | Editor | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Take it from Home | No | Yes | No | Film TV |
| 2003–2009 | Ride with Funkmaster Fle | No | Yes | No | TV Series |
| 2005 | Miracle's Boys | No | Yes | No | Mini-series; 5 episodes |
| 2006 | African American Lives | No | Yes | No | TV series; 1 episode |
| When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts | No | Yes | No | Mini-series; 4 episodes | |
| 2007 | Oprah's Roots: An African American Lives Special | No | Yes | No | Film TV |
| 2009 | Purizun doggu: Boku ni ikiru chikara o kureta inu | No | No | Yes | Film TV |
| 2010 | If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise | No | Yes | No | Mini-series; 1 epidose |
| 2015 | Op-Docs | Yes | No | Yes | TV series; 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Daughters of Destiny | No | Yes | No | Mini-series |
| 2019 | Rapture | Yes | No | No | Mini-series |
| 2018 | Doc World | No | No | Yes | TV series |
| 2019 | Why We Hate | Yes | No | No | TV series; 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Asian Americans | No | No | Yes | TV series |
| 2021 | Black and Missing | Yes | No | Executive | Mini-series; 4 episodes |
| 2023 | Born in Synanon | Yes | No | Executive | Mini-series; 4 episodes |
| 2025 | Eyes on the Prize | Yes | No | No | TV series; 1 episode |
| Katrina: Come Hell and High Water | Yes | No | Executive | Mini-series; 3 episodes | |
| Harlem Ice | No | No | Executive | TV series; 5 episodes |
Awards and nominations
Major associations
Academy Awards
| Year | Work | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | The Perfect Neighbor | Best Documentary Feature Film | Pending | [11] |
| The Devil Is Busy | Best Documentary Short | Pending |
British Academy Film Awards
| Year | Work | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | The Perfect Neighbor | Best Documentary | Pending | [12] |
Emmy Awards
| Year | Work | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | ||||
| 2007 | When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts | Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming | Won | |
| 2010 | By the People: The Election of Barack Obama | Won | ||
| 2011 | If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise | Nominated | ||
| News and Documentary Emmy Awards | ||||
| 2015 | P.O.V. (episode "American Promise") | Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Editing - Documentary and Long Form | Nominated | |
| 2019 | HBO Documentary Films (episode "I Am Evidence") | Outstanding Documentary | Won | [13] |
| Outstanding Investigative Documentary | Nominated | |||
| Doc World: (episode "Armed With Faith") | Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary | Won | ||
| 2022 | Through Our Eyes (episode "Apart") | Outstanding Short Documentary | Won | [14][15] |
Other awards and honors
| Award | Year | Work | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| African-American Film Critics Association | 2022 | Black and Missing | Best Documentary | Won | |
| American Cinema Editors Awards | 2018 | Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge: "01" | Best Edited Documentary for Television | Nominated | [16] |
| Atlanta Film Festival | 2016 | A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers | Best Documentary Feature | Nominated | |
| Astra Awards | 2026 | The Perfect Neighbor | Best Documentary Feature | Won | [17] |
| Black Reel Awards for Television | 2022 | Black and Missing | Outstanding Television Documentary or Special | Nominated | [18] |
| Cinema Eye Honors | 2019 | I Am Evidence | Outstanding Broadcast Nonfiction Filmmaking | Nominated | |
| 2022 | Black and Missing | Outstanding Nonfiction Series | Won | [19] | |
| 2023 | Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power | Outstanding Broadcast Film | Nominated | [20] | |
| 2026 | The Perfect Neighbor | Outstanding Non-Fiction Feature | Nominated | [21] | |
| Outstanding Direction | Won | ||||
| Critics' Choice Documentary Awards | 2025 | The Perfect Neighbor | Best Director | Won | [22] |
| Cleveland International Film Festival | 2017 | Puppies Behind Barss | Best Film | Nominated | |
| 2018 | I Am Evidence | Excellence in Directing | Nominated | ||
| Local Heroes Competition | Nominated | ||||
| Denver Film Festival | 2023 | How We Get Free | Best Short Film | Nominated | |
| Film Independent Spirit Awards | 2022 | Black and Missing | Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series | Won | [23] |
| 2026 | The Perfect Neighbor | Best Documentary Feature | Won | [24] | |
| Gotham Independent Film Awards | 2025 | The Perfect Neighbor | Best Documentary | Nominated | [25] |
| Gracie Awards | 2022 | Black and Missing | Best Director | Won | |
| Hamptons International Film Festival | 2017 | I Am Evidence | Social Justice Award | Honoree | |
| NAACP Image Awards | 2022 | Black and Missing | Outstanding Directing in a Documentary (Television or Motion Picture) | Won | [26] |
| Producers Guild of America Award | 2026 | The Perfect Neighbor | Best Documentary Motion Picture | Pending | [27] |
| Sundance Film Festival | 2025 | The Perfect Neighbor | Grand Jury Prize – U.S. Documentary Competition | Nominated | [28] |
| Directing Award: U.S. Documentary | Won |
References
- ^ "Geeta Gandbhir On Being The Slightly Shrill Person In The Room". CAAM Home. August 26, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ Verge, Beth (November 30, 2022). "Judge Una Gandbhir, pointing to own experience, says opportunity is abundant within Alaska Court System". Alaska's News Source. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ "Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard". Talkhouse. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ "If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ "The Producers of Asian Americans Look Back on the Making of the Documentary Series | Asian Americans". Asian Americans. April 22, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ Piña, Christy (September 30, 2022). "'The Rescue,' 'The First Wave' Among Top Documentary Emmy Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ "Born in Synanon to Premiere on Tuesday, December 12". Paramount Press Express. November 16, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
- ^ Tangcay, Jazz (January 25, 2025). "Soledad O'Brien on Exposing the 'Chaos' of Stand-Your-Ground Laws With Sundance Doc 'The Perfect Neighbor': 'These Make It Easier to Kill People. Period'". Variety. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic (December 11, 2024). "Sundance 2025: JLo, Sly Stone, Putin, Ayo Edebiri, André Holland, & Ex-NZ PM Jacinda Ardern Films Among Park City Festival Offerings". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
- ^ Rice, Lynette (January 30, 2025). "Spike Lee Series About Hurricane Katrina Among Docs Planned For Netflix In 2025". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 1, 2025.
- ^ "98th Academy Awards Nominations List: Nominees by Category". ABC. January 22, 2026.
- ^ Ntim, Zac (January 27, 2026). "BAFTA Nominations 2026: 'One Battle After Another' & 'Sinners' Lead the Pack — See Full List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
- ^ "NOMINEES FOR THE 40th ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED" (PDF). National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. July 25, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
- ^ "WINNERS FOR THE NEWS CATEGORIES OF THE 43rd ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED" (PDF). National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. September 28, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
- ^ "WINNERS FOR THE DOCUMENTARY CATEGORIES OF THE 43rd ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED" (PDF). National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. September 29, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
- ^ Carolyn Giardina (January 3, 2018). "'Dunkirk,' 'Shape of Water,' 'Baby Driver' Among ACE Eddie Awards Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ admin (November 25, 2025). "The 2025 Hollywood Creative Alliance's (HCA) Astra Film Award Nominations". Next Best Picture. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
- ^ Complex, Valerie (June 16, 2022). "6th Annual Black Reel Television Awards Nominations Announced". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
- ^ Carey, Matthew (October 20, 2022). "Cinema Eye Honors: 'Four Hours At The Capitol,' 'The Beatles: Get Back' Lead First Round Of Nominations For Documentary Awards Show". Deadline. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
- ^ Carey, Matthew (October 19, 2023). "'The 1619 Project,' 'Nothing Lasts Forever' Lead Charge As Cinema Eye Honors Announces First Round Of Documentary Nominations [Full List]". Deadline. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- ^ Pedersen, Erik (November 13, 2025). "Cinema Eye Honors 2026 Nominations: 'Come See Me In The Good Light' Leads Field". Deadline. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
- ^ Davis, Clayton (October 14, 2025). "'Orwell: 2+2=5' and 'The Perfect Neighbor' Lead Critics Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved October 14, 2025.
- ^ Patten, Dominic; D'Alessandro, Anthony; Topel, Fred (March 6, 2022). "Film Independent Spirit Awards: 'The Lost Daughter' Takes Home Best Feature as Netflix Reigns with Six wins". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ Lattanzio, Ryan (December 3, 2025). "Spirit Award Nominees include 'Sorry, Baby', 'Peter Hujar's Day', 'Train Dreams', 'Twinless', and 'The Plague'". IndieWire. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
- ^ Goldsmith, Jill (October 28, 2025). "Gotham Awards Film Nominations: One Battle After Another Leads Pack; Multiple Noms for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, It Was Just An Accident, No Other Choice". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
- ^ "NAACP Image Awards: 'Insecure,' 'Judas and the Black Messiah' Among Winners From Night Two of Non-Televised Ceremonies". The Hollywood Reporter. February 22, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
- ^ "2026 Producers Guild Award Nominees Announced for Sports, Children's, and Short-Form Programs" (Press release). Los Angeles: Producers Guild of America. December 12, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 31, 2025). "'Atropia' Takes U.S. Grand Jury Prize Dramatic At Sundance Film Festival: Full Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
External links
- Interview with Spike Lee, Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard - Peabody Conversations, 2011