2015 Filmmaker In Residence
Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker Nico Opper is skilled at capturing people's stories on camera alongside their spouse, Kristan Cassady. Over the last two years, however, this queer, Jewish couple from Oakland has turned the tables by documenting their own personal journey toward creating a family through foster-adoption. The result? A delightful and thought-provoking web-based docu-series called The F Word.
Nico Opper (they/them) is an Emmy®-nominated filmmaker who has been featured in Filmmaker Magazine’s annual “25 New Faces of Independent Film”, Indiewire Magazine’s “25 LGBT Filmmakers on the Rise”, and DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40” list of documentary talents.
Their directorial debut, Off and Running (Tribeca Film Festival Audience Favorite, POV broadcast), received ten Best Documentary awards, The WGA Award for Best Documentary Screenplay and a national Emmy nomination. Their episodic series The F Word was nominated for a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series and an IDA Award for Best Short Form Series.
They produced the ITVS feature documentary Try Harder! which premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and a Cinema Eye Honors Award, and is currently streaming on Hulu and Independent Lens. Opper is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and a Eureka Fellowship, and serves as a Film Expert for the US State Department’s film diplomacy program, the American Film Showcase. In 2023, Opper was a recipient of the Chicken & Egg Award, which elevates women and gender-expansive directors who are poised to reach new heights in their creative trajectory and solidify their position as filmmaker-advocates for urgent issues.
Project description and bios courtesy of the Resident