David Barker
studied philosophy and anthropology before turning to film, where he is an
editor, screenwriter and director. A member of ACE, he is best known for his extensive work
as an editor in fiction with director Josephine Decker and as a writer and
editor in documentary with Petra Costa.
He has been
involved with two documentary films nominated for Oscars: The Edge of
Democracy (co-writer/editor) and Navalny (editorial consultant). Other
doc credits include Costa’s Olmo and the Seagull, Zachary Heinzwerling’s Hulu
series Stolen Youth, and Pacho Velez and Sierra Pettengill’s The
Reagan Show. He is currently editing and co-writing a new film in Brazil with Petra
Costa.
In fiction,
he has collaborated extensively with the director Josephine Decker, as editor
of her Sundance Special Jury Prize-winning Shirley as well as consulting
editor on her Madeline’s Madeline and Butter on the Latch,
co-writer and editor of Thou Wast Mild and Lovely, and additional editor
on The Sky is Everywhere.
He has also collaborated extensively with Nepali new wave director, Deepak
Rauniyar as editor and co-writer of White Sun, which premiered at the
2016 Venice Film Festival where it won the Interfilm Award, screened at the
2016 Toronto Film Festival and 2017 New Directors/New Films Festival, and won
numerous international prizes. He also edited Rauniyar’s Highway, and
co-wrote the director’s new film The Sky Is Mine, which is in
postproduction.
He has collaborated several times with the
anthropologist Elizabeth Povinelli and the Australian indigenous art collective
Karrabing Indigenous Corporation onWindjarrameru: the Stealing
Cunts, and When Dogs Talked, which was awarded Best Short Fiction Film at
the 2015 Melbourne Film Festival.
He directed two microbudget films: the feature Daylight, which was
the ‘Critic’s Pick’ in both The New York Times and The New York Post on its release Afraid of Everything featuring actresses Nathalie
Richard (Irma Vep) and Sarah Adler (Notre Musique) which premiered
at the Sundance Film Festival and was called “A miracle of indie filmmaking” byThe New York Post.
He is
currently developing a series set in 1970s Chile which has received support
from The Sloan Foundation, Tribeca Film Institute, and The Gotham TV-Series
Lab.
A short filmSeven Days premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival, screened at over 40
international venues.
Besides making films, he has been active in distributing and programming other
filmmakers’ work: as artistic director of the experimental cinema festival
Cinematexas International Short Film Festival, founded by Athina Rachel
Tsangari, (which was called ‘the most inspiring and significant film festival
in the country’ by IndieWIRE during his tenure), and co-founder of Noon
Pictures, an independent distribution and sales company that released films by
filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard, Harun Farocki Laura Mulvey, and Isaac
Julien.
David has taught extensively, as a visiting professor at Brown University, Bard
College, Boston University, and University of Austin at Texas, among other institutions.
He studied
filmmaking and criticism with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin and cinematographer/filmmaker
Babette Mangolte (Jeanne Dielman), and philosophy with Giorgio
Agamben and Jacques Rancière.
He lives and
works in New York City and Santiago, Chile.
APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS
Petra Costa
Busca Vida/Plan B
Venice Film Festival 2024
Winn
Busca Vida/Plan B
Venice Film Festival 2024
Winn
writer/editor
MY MOTHER
IS
A COW
(shrot)
A COW
(shrot)
Moara Passoni
Uvaia Filmes
Orrizzonte Short Competition, Venice Film Festival 2024
Uvaia Filmes
Orrizzonte Short Competition, Venice Film Festival 2024
co-editor
FAMILY
Benjamin Finkel
Endeavor Content/51 Entertainment
Winner, Kickstarter NextGen Award, SXSW
Win
Endeavor Content/51 Entertainment
Winner, Kickstarter NextGen Award, SXSW
Win
editor
STOLEN YOUTH
Zachary Heinzerling
Story Syndicate/Hulu
Nominated, Best Doc Series, Spirit Awards
Story Syndicate/Hulu
Nominated, Best Doc Series, Spirit Awards
editor
NAVALNY
Daniel Roher
CNN/HBO MAX
Winner, Best Documentary, 2023 Academy Awards
CNN/HBO MAX
Winner, Best Documentary, 2023 Academy Awards
editorial consultant
THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE
Josephine Decker
Apple Films/A24
Apple Films/A24
additional
editor
editor
BIRDS OF PARADISE
Sarah Adina Smith
Amazon Films/Anonymous Content (2020)inner
Amazon Films/Anonymous Content (2020)inner
editor
ÊXTASE
Moara Passoni
Produced by Petra Costa
Winner, Jury Prize: Montreal Festival of New Cinema. Winner, Best First Film: São Paolo film critics Association. Opening Night film, CPH:Dox Main Competition.nne
rao
Produced by Petra Costa
Winner, Jury Prize: Montreal Festival of New Cinema. Winner, Best First Film: São Paolo film critics Association. Opening Night film, CPH:Dox Main Competition.nne
rao
editor / co-writer
SHIRLEY
Josephine Decker
Killer Films / LAMF
Winner, Special Jury Award
Sundance Dramatic Competitioninner
Killer Films / LAMF
Winner, Special Jury Award
Sundance Dramatic Competitioninner
editor
THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY
Petra Costa
Netflix / Busca Vida Filmes
Nominated, Best Documentary, Academy Awards (2020), Sundance Film Festival (2019) Nominated ‘Best Documentary’ Gotham Awards. Winner, Directing Award, DOCNYC. Nominated Best Film, Best Writing, Best Director, International Documentary Awards. ‘Ten Best Films of the Year,’ The New York Times.
Netflix / Busca Vida Filmes
Nominated, Best Documentary, Academy Awards (2020), Sundance Film Festival (2019) Nominated ‘Best Documentary’ Gotham Awards. Winner, Directing Award, DOCNYC. Nominated Best Film, Best Writing, Best Director, International Documentary Awards. ‘Ten Best Films of the Year,’ The New York Times.
editor / co-writer
BUCK RUN
Nick Frangione
Intuition Films
Winner, Best International Feature, Santorini Film Fest. Winner, Best Feature, Flickers Rhode Island Int’l Film Fest. Winner, Best International Feature, Nordic Int’l Film Fest
Intuition Films
Winner, Best International Feature, Santorini Film Fest. Winner, Best Feature, Flickers Rhode Island Int’l Film Fest. Winner, Best International Feature, Nordic Int’l Film Fest
editor
inematography, Soirit
MADELINE’S MADELINE
Josephine Decker
Krista Parris / Third Room Productions
Sundance Film Festival (2018), Berlin Film Festival (2018), Nominated, Best Feature + Breakthrough Actor, Gotham Awards. Nominated, Best Female Lead, Best Cinematography, Spirit Awards.
Krista Parris / Third Room Productions
Sundance Film Festival (2018), Berlin Film Festival (2018), Nominated, Best Feature + Breakthrough Actor, Gotham Awards. Nominated, Best Female Lead, Best Cinematography, Spirit Awards.
editorial consultant
HUMAN AFFAIRS
Charlie Birns
Krista Parris
Slamdance Film Festival (2018)
Krista Parris
Slamdance Film Festival (2018)
editor / co-writer
THE REAGAN SHOW
Pacho Velez / Sierra Pettengill
CNN Films / Impact Partners
Tribeca Film Festival (2017), Locarno Film Festival (2017). Nominated for Outstanding Editing, Cinema Eye Honors (2018).
CNN Films / Impact Partners
Tribeca Film Festival (2017), Locarno Film Festival (2017). Nominated for Outstanding Editing, Cinema Eye Honors (2018).
editor
WHITE SUN
Deepak Rauniyar
Louverture Films / Joslyn Barnes / Danny Glover
Venice Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, New Directors / New Films, Winner: Interfilm Award Venice Film Festiva, Best Film: Palm Springs Film Festival, Best Film: Singapore Film Festival, Audience Award / Jury Prize: Fribourg Film Festival, Nepal entry to the Academy Awards.
Louverture Films / Joslyn Barnes / Danny Glover
Venice Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, New Directors / New Films, Winner: Interfilm Award Venice Film Festiva, Best Film: Palm Springs Film Festival, Best Film: Singapore Film Festival, Audience Award / Jury Prize: Fribourg Film Festival, Nepal entry to the Academy Awards.
editor / screenwriter
AD INEXPLORATA
Mark Elijah Rosenberg
Paramount Pictures / 3311 Productions
Paramount Pictures / 3311 Productions
editor
OLMO AND THE SEAGULL
Petra Costa / Lea Glob
Zentropa Productions / Som e Furia
Best Film, Nordic Competition, CPH: Dox (2014), Locarno Film Festival Young Critics Prize.
Zentropa Productions / Som e Furia
Best Film, Nordic Competition, CPH: Dox (2014), Locarno Film Festival Young Critics Prize.
additional editor / script consultant
FUNNY BUNNY
Alison Bagnall
Magic Owl Productions
SXSW Narrative Competition (2015) Winner Best Editing, Brooklyn Film Festival.
Magic Owl Productions
SXSW Narrative Competition (2015) Winner Best Editing, Brooklyn Film Festival.
editor
THOU WAST MILD AND LOVELY
Josephine Decker
Third Room Productions
Berlin International Film Festival (2014)
Sarasota Film Festival: Winner, Independent Visions Grand Prize and Tangerine Entertainment’s Juice Award.
“Top 10 Films of the Year” The New Yorker
Third Room Productions
Berlin International Film Festival (2014)
Sarasota Film Festival: Winner, Independent Visions Grand Prize and Tangerine Entertainment’s Juice Award.
“Top 10 Films of the Year” The New Yorker
editor / co-writer
BUTTER ON THE LATCH
Josephine Decker
Third Room Productions
Berlin International Film Festival (2014)
“Top 10 Films of the Year” The New Yorker
Third Room Productions
Berlin International Film Festival (2014)
“Top 10 Films of the Year” The New Yorker
editorial consultant
BIG MEN
Rachel Boynton
Boynton Films / Plan B Entertainment
Opening Night film — Tribeca Film Festival Documentary Competition (2013).
Boynton Films / Plan B Entertainment
Opening Night film — Tribeca Film Festival Documentary Competition (2013).
consulting editor
HIGHWAY
Deepak Rauniyar
Louverture Films
Berlin International Film Festival (2012)
Opening night film — Museum of Modern Art Contemporasian festival.
Louverture Films
Berlin International Film Festival (2012)
Opening night film — Museum of Modern Art Contemporasian festival.
editor
HERE
Braden King
Parts & Labor
New York Times Critic’s Pick, New York Post Critic’s Pick (2011).
Parts & Labor
New York Times Critic’s Pick, New York Post Critic’s Pick (2011).
editor
AFRAID OF EVERYTHING
David Barker
Sundance Film Festival (1999).
Sundance Film Festival (1999).
editor
SHORTS
WHEN DOGS TALKED
Elizabeth Povinelli / Liza Johnson
Melbourne International Film Festival (2015) — Winner, Best Short Fiction Film.
Melbourne International Film Festival (2015) — Winner, Best Short Fiction Film.
editor
WINDJAMERRU
Elizabeth Povinelli
Karrabing Cultural Corporation
Melbourne International Film Festival (2015).
Karrabing Cultural Corporation
Melbourne International Film Festival (2015).
editor
KNIGHTSVILLE
Alissa Migliori
Atlanta Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival (2015).
Atlanta Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival (2015).
supervising editor
LLANO DEL RIO
Jesper Just
Projects by Apart
James Cohan Gallery, New York.
Projects by Apart
James Cohan Gallery, New York.
editor
SOMEONE ELSE’S HEART
Zach Wigon
Parts & Labor
Baltimore Film Festival.
Winner, Hammer to Nail short film contest.
Parts & Labor
Baltimore Film Festival.
Winner, Hammer to Nail short film contest.
editor
SEVEN DAYS
David Barker
Rotterdam Film Festival (2004).
Rotterdam Film Festival (2004).
editor
CONTACT
AFRAID OF EVERYTHING
1999, 80 mins
Iris (Sarah Adler in her first role) comes to visit her sister Anne (Nathalie Richard) one year after a debilitating accident. A darkly comic film of quiet revelations.
Starring Nathalie Richard, Sarah Adler, Daniel Aukin. Cinematography by Deborah Eve Lewis. Music by Stewart Wallace. Premiere Sundance Film Festival.
“The intelligence that permeates David Barker’s rigorous, personal, and deeply textured first feature is striking ... distinctly unlike other works populating the American indie film landscape.
— Sundance Film Festival Catalogue.
“Hollywood can’t beat this! A miracle of Indie filmmaking.”
— The New York Post
“Intriguing, accomplished ... discards the didactic tone of so much American independent filmmaking in favor of a character study that leads to no easy conclusions. Here's hoping some adventurous producer will allow Mr. Barker to take his gifts further.”
—The New York Times
“A great and important work. Bressonian in its austerity, capturing the mystery of being as deeply as Bresson does. I highly recommend it.”
— Ray Carney, author Cassavetes on Cassavetes
DAYLIGHT
2009, 80 minsA revisionist genre film about an upwardly mobile couple that is a few weeks away from the birth of their first child. When a family wedding draw them out of Manhattan to venture upstate, the lose their way on unfamiliar wooded roads. What was supposed to be a regular drive alters their lives forever.
Starring Alexandra Meierhans, Ivan Martin, Michael Godere. Cinematography by Nils Kenaston. Music by Stewart Wallace.
“Critic’s Pick! An unusually delicate psychological thriller.... [Barker’s] films coax us into looking below the surface.”
—The New York Times
“Critic's Pick! This isn’t your usual exploitation flick. It grows more unpredictable and erotic with each new scene…”
— Vincent Musseto, The New York Post
“Daylight takes a standard kidnapping plot and turns it inside out. Barker and his formidable stars ... have written a script that concentrates on fleshed-out characterizaton, leaves the audience to connect the dots and demolishes genre clichés.”
— The Los Angeles Times.
“Favorably compared to the work of Michael Haneke, this psychological thriller follows couple Daniel (Aidan Redmond) and Irene (the very pregnant Alexandra Meierhans) as they pick up a seemingly-innocent hitchhiker (Michael Godere) on their way to a wedding. But it’s not all screaming and melodrama as the film unfolds into something a bit more subtle and tense, with director David Barker infusing quiet eroticism and benevolence on the proceedings … even some of the biggest names in the industry can't do this."
— Playlist / IndieWIRE
SEVEN DAYS
2004, 10 minsA short film about Richard Nixon, his Irish Setter, and the bombing of Cambodia.
Cinematography by Nils Kenaston. Music by Stewart Wallace.
“A clever and comic short film in the spirit of the White House satire. It doesn't focus on Bush but on Nixon (or rather his dog) even though the film also meshes with the present situation. In Seven Days, our view of the president is restricted to knee height because it is filmed from the perspective of the Irish Setter King Timahoe. It's the first week the new president is spending in the famous Oval Office and he has given himself the task of making his new dog affectionate. At first he is not very successful. The war that got out of hand (then Vietnam) and the death of Eisenhower (his great example) do not seem too get through to him, but the dog's reticence drives him mad. In only 10 minutes, Barker manages to sketch a completely absurd situation (with all the necessary political implications), and in his approach he is just as cautious as the shy dog. The things such an Oval Office has to put up with.”
— Rotterdam Film Festival.
Screened at over 40 international festivals and venues.
SCREENWRITING
APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS
Directed by Petra Costa.
Venice Film Festival 2024
Venice Film Festival 2024
co-writer
POOJA, SIR
Directed by Deepak Rauniyar.
Venice Film Festival 2024
Venice Film Festival 2024
writer
ÊXTASE
Directed by Moara Passoni.
Winner, Jury Prize: Montreal Festival of New Cinema. Winner, Best First Film: São Paolo film critics Association. Opening Night film, CPH:Dox Main Competition.
Winner, Jury Prize: Montreal Festival of New Cinema. Winner, Best First Film: São Paolo film critics Association. Opening Night film, CPH:Dox Main Competition.
co-writer
THE EDGE
OF DEMOCRACY
Directed by Petra Costa.
Sundance World Documentary Competition (2019). Academy Award nominee, Best Documentary
Sundance World Documentary Competition (2019). Academy Award nominee, Best Documentary
co-writer
HUMAN AFFAIRS
Directed by Charlie Birns.
Slamdance Film Festival (2018).
Slamdance Film Festival (2018).
co-writer
WHITE SUN
Directed by Deepak Rauniyar.
Venice Film Festival (2016)
Toronto Film Festival (2016)
New Directors/New Films (2017)
Nepal’s Official Entry to the Academy Awards.
Venice Film Festival (2016)
Toronto Film Festival (2016)
New Directors/New Films (2017)
Nepal’s Official Entry to the Academy Awards.
writer
OLMO AND THE SEAGULL
Directed by Petra Costa and Lea Glob.
Winner: Best Film, CHP: Dox, Nordic Competition (2014)
Winner: Young Juror Award, Locarno Film Festival (2015).
Winner: Best Film, CHP: Dox, Nordic Competition (2014)
Winner: Young Juror Award, Locarno Film Festival (2015).
script collaboration
THOU WAST MILD AND LOVELY
Directed by Josephine Decker.
Berlin Film Festival (2014)
‘10 Best Films of 2014’ —The New Yorker.
Berlin Film Festival (2014)
‘10 Best Films of 2014’ —The New Yorker.
co-writer
DAYLIGHT
Directed by David Barker.
‘Critics Pick’ — New York Times, New York Post.
‘Critics Pick’ — New York Times, New York Post.
writer
SEVEN DAYS
Directed by David Barker.
Rotterdam Film Festival (2004).
Rotterdam Film Festival (2004).
writer
AFRAID OF EVERYTHING
Directed by David Barker.
Sundance Film Festival (1999).
Sundance Film Festival (1999).
writer
Etc.
OTHER WRITING
“Knowing When to be Wary of Images” in Labour in a Single Shot: Critical Perspectives on Antje Ehmann and Harun Farocki’s Global Video Project.
The Invention of Chris Marker — on a visit to Chris Marker’s studio.
On Tarkovsky’s The Mirror
Goodbye Language, Hello Love — on Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language
Not Understanding Uncle Boonmee — a talk for Deutsche Evangelische Kirchentag
“This is more than a pause” - thoughts on quarantine and creative life
The Invention of Chris Marker — on a visit to Chris Marker’s studio.
On Tarkovsky’s The Mirror
Goodbye Language, Hello Love — on Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language
Not Understanding Uncle Boonmee — a talk for Deutsche Evangelische Kirchentag
“This is more than a pause” - thoughts on quarantine and creative life
“I Try to Expose Myself to Unknown Territory” : Pablos Larraín on Ema
“I Still Have the Illusion of Community”: Dominga Sotomayor on Too Late to Die Young
“Imagination and Reality Go Together”: Alice Rorhwacher on Happy as Lazzaro with Josephine Decker and David Barker
“Standing on Opposite Sides of the Road”: Pedro Costa on Horse Money
“I’ve Never Understood a Traditional Screenplay”: Carlo Reygadas on Post Tenebras Lux
“I Have a Problem with that Whole Narrative coming from Someplace Bad and Getting Out of It”: Micah Magee on her debut feature, Petting Zoo
A Conversation with Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Walter Murch on Editing and his Translations of Malaparte
David Lowery on editing Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
Claire Denis on Bastards (and Vivre sa Vie!)
“I Still Have the Illusion of Community”: Dominga Sotomayor on Too Late to Die Young
“Imagination and Reality Go Together”: Alice Rorhwacher on Happy as Lazzaro with Josephine Decker and David Barker
“Standing on Opposite Sides of the Road”: Pedro Costa on Horse Money
“I’ve Never Understood a Traditional Screenplay”: Carlo Reygadas on Post Tenebras Lux
“I Have a Problem with that Whole Narrative coming from Someplace Bad and Getting Out of It”: Micah Magee on her debut feature, Petting Zoo
A Conversation with Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Walter Murch on Editing and his Translations of Malaparte
David Lowery on editing Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
Claire Denis on Bastards (and Vivre sa Vie!)
More links coming soon
PRESS
Portraits
Transforming Information into Experience: White Sun screenwriter and editor David Barker.
Reviews of films as writer/editor
Screen on The Edge of Democracy
Hollywood Reporter on White Sun
Variety on White Sun
The New Yorker on Thou Was Mild and Lovely
Slant on Thou Was Mild and Lovely
Hollywood Reporter on White Sun
Variety on White Sun
The New Yorker on Thou Was Mild and Lovely
Slant on Thou Was Mild and Lovely
Reviews of Daylight
Reviews of Afraid of Everything
Interviews