David
Barker studied philosophy and anthropology before turning to film, where he is
an editor, screenwriter and director.
He was co-writer and an editor of Petra Costa’s Oscar nominated filmThe Edge of Democracy, an epic documentary for Netflix about the rise and fall of popular democracy in Brazil, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The film was also nominated for a Gotham Award, three International Documentary Awards, and two Critic’s Choice Awards, including two nominations for best writing.
As an editor and writer, he has collaborated extensively with the director Josephine Decker, most recently editing her Sundance Special Jury Prize-winning Shirley, directed by Decker from a screenplay by Sarah Gubbins (I Love Dick), which will be released by Neon in 2020. He was also consulting editor on her Madeline’s Madeline (Sundance 2018), co-writer and editor of Thou Wast Mild and Lovely ('10 Best Films of 2014' by The New Yorker), and consulting editor of Butter on the Latch.
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 will go into production Winter 2020.
Recent credits include an editor of The Reagan Show, directed by Pacho Velez (Manakamana) and Sierra Pettengill (2017 Tribeca and Locarno Film Festivals), nominated for the Cinema Eye Honors’ Outstanding Achievement in Editing; editor and co-writer of Charlie Birns’ Human Affairs, (2018 Slamdance Film Festival; Olmo and the Seagull (collaborating writer and additional editor) by Petra Costa and Lea Glob, which won Best Film at VPH:DOX in 2014 and the Young Critics Award at the 2015 Locarno Film Festival.
He has collaborated several times with the anthropologist Elizabeth Povinelli and the Australian indigenous art collective Karrabing Indigenous Corporation as editor of Windjarrameru: the Stealing Cunts, on which he was also ‘visiting director,’ and as editor of their 2014 film When Dogs Talked, which was awarded Best Short Fiction Film at the 2015 Melbourne Film Festival.
His most recent film as director includes the feature Daylight (2009) which was the ‘Critic’s Pick’ in both The New York Times and The New York Post on its release. Jeannette Catsoulis wrote of the film that it is “An unusually delicate psychological thriller ... [Barker's] films coax us into looking beneath the surface. What we find is mostly up to us.”
His previous feature Afraid of Everything featuring French actresses Nathalie Richard (Irma Vep) and Sarah Adler (Notre Musique) premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and was called “A miracle of indie filmmaking” by The New York Post.
A short film Seven 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. David was the 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-founded 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.
Under the name Alex, he was guitarist in the bands Drunk Tank and Plywood.
David has been a visiting professor at Brown University, Bard College, Boston University’s Kilachand, and others. He studied filmmaking and criticism with former Jean-Luc Godard partner Jean-Pierre Gorin and cinematographer Babette Mangolte (Jeanne Dielman), as well as philosophy with Giorgio Agamben and Jacques Rancière.
He lives and works in New York City and Santiago, Chile.
FAMILY
Benjamin Finkel
Endeavor Content/51 Entertainment
Endeavor Content/51 Entertainment
editor
STOLEN YOUTH
Zachary Heinzerling
Story Syndicate/Hulu
Story Syndicate/Hulu
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
Winner, Special Jury Award
Sundance Dramatic Competition (2020)inner
Killer Films
Winner, Special Jury Award
Sundance Dramatic Competition (2020)inner
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
THE SKY IS MINE
Directed by Deepak Rauniyar.
In production Summer 2022.
In production Summer 2022.
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