Katja Esson

Katja Esson began her career in Miami working as a production assistant for the notorious potty-mouthed rap group 2 Live Crew on such memorable music videos as "We Want Some Pussy" and "Me So Horny"; she now finds this very amusing. Since her days of wrangling booty-shaking babes, Esson has moved on to direct a variety of award-winning documentaries, short films and commercials.

Her 2003 documentary Ferry Tales turns the unlikely setting of the Staten Island Ferry women’s bathroom into a celebration of sisterhood. Acquired by HBO immediately after the 2002 IFP Market, the documentary has screened to broad acclaim at film festivals including Woodstock where it received an Honorable Mention and the International Documentary Association’s Theatrical Screening Series in Los Angeles. Ferry Tales was one of three films nominated for the 2004 Best Documentary Shorts Academy Awards.

Born and raised in Hamburg Germany, Esson brings a quirky European sensibility to the distinctively American subjects she chooses. As a writer director Esson also works for German television. In 1997 she received a fellowship for her screenplay El Aleman at Berlin’s Master School.

Esson’s VERTICAL TRAVELER (2001) explores the pioneering spirit of New York City through the metaphoric story of the city’s unique relationship with elevators. The film was broadcast on PBS and on Europe’s ARTE Channel. SEARCHING FOR SENSE (2002) a reflection on 9/11 also aired on PBS. ADAM - MADE TO ORDER SAVIOR (2003) commissioned by ARTE and Germany’s ARD examines the thorny issues raised by pre-implantation genetic diagnosis by focusing on a child "designed" to be a perfect donor for his sister. The film, which aired in Europe, has stirred up significant debate in the German medical community.

Other documentary credits include SIEGFRIED & ROY– A FAIRY TALE FOR GROWNUPS (2004); LOST- HOSTAGE CRISIS IN THE SAHAR (2005); filmed in the Algerian Sahara and New York Harbor (2005). She recently finished HOLE IN THE SKY– THE SCARS OF 9/11 about New York City five years after 9/11 and is currently in production with Poetry of Resiliencer a film about survivor poets and in pre-production with Liquid Gold a documentary with a different look at breastfeeding.

Her first narrative short film A SEASON OF MADNESS, based on a short story by best-selling Lebanese author Hanan Al-Shaykh, is currently in the international festival circuit, and she is preparing DEER PASS, her first narrative feature. (05/07)

Ferry Tales
A film by Katja Esson, 2003, 40 min., Color
Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Short, FERRY TALES exposes a secret world that exists in the powder room of the Staten Island Ferry--a plac...