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ERICA JORDAn

An independent narrative and documentary filmmaker creates stories that entertain, as they expand into a deeper understanding of the world

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OFFICIAL SELECTION - ARFF Amsterdam  Int
FILMS
Looking For My Anchor - Official Trailer

Looking For My Anchor - Official Trailer

Looking For My Anchor - Official Trailer

The Spark - Reclaiming Mount Rushmore

Walls of Sand - Official Trailer

SEEING SLAVERY - Trailer

ABOUT

bio

Award-winning filmmaker Erica Jordan is celebrated for her intimate storytelling and her ability to address pressing social issues, earning acclaim from audiences and the film community. Her distinguished body of work includes both documentary and narrative films, such as Walls of Sand, In the Wake, Painted Nails, In Plain Sight, and Seeing Slavery. Erica’s films have been recognized at numerous prestigious festivals. Walls of Sand was recently restored and is now available for streaming on the Slamdance Channel. This pioneering project was initially notable as the first feature film to stream online and has continued to garner recognition, including accolades from the Slamdance Film Festival and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts Film Festival.​ Seeing Slavery won Best Short Documentary at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards, received an Award of Merit at the Accolade Global Film Competition, and was a finalist at Amsterdam’s Around International Film Festival. Her film In the Wake was featured at the Mill Valley Film Festival, while In Plain Sight was showcased at the United Nations Film Festival. Painted Nails has achieved nationwide distribution and has been broadcast on PBS across 13 states. It has also been honored at notable festivals, including Cinequest International Film Festival, CAAMFest, and the Seattle Asian American Film Festival.​ In addition to her work as a filmmaker, Erica is an accomplished editor, having contributed to films such as Animation Outlaws by Kat Alioshin and Shadow Stalker by Lynn Hershman.​ Erica's latest film, Looking For My Anchor, delves into a filmmaker’s quest for mooring aboard her small boat in a low-income community of artists and maritime workers, intersecting with the lives of individuals facing challenges on the San Francisco Bay. The film is set for distribution in 2025.

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FILMS
DIRECTOR • PRODUCER •EDITOR

​Logic Paralyzes The Heart (Editor: Erica Jordan, Director: Lynn Hershman - 2022) debuted at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia

Shadow Stalker (Editor: Erica Jordan, Director: Lynn Hershman, - 2020) showed at the de Young Museum in San Francisco and received the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica distinguished mention.

Animation Outlaws (Editor: Erica Jordan, Director: by Kat Alioshin - 2019 Feature Documentary) distributor: Gravitas Ventures

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Seeing Slavery (Director: Erica Jordan - 2018 - Short Documentary)


Painted Nails (Director: Erica Jordan and Dianne Griffin, Editor: Erica Jordan 2016 - feature documentary) distributor: Kanopy

In Plain Sight (Director: Erica Jordan - 2014 - Feature Documentary)


Seed to Sprout  (Director: Erica Jordan 2012 - Three short films for for award-winning choreographer Amara Tabor-Smith -- youth dance/film/theater collaboration.

Our Daily Bread (Director: Erica Jordan 2011 - Several short films for award-winning choreographer Amara Tabor-Smith, screened at CounterPulse, SF


Any Sunday at Rhythm and Motion (Director: Erica Jordan - 2009 – 7 min. documentary)


Saving Malcolm X (Director: Erica Jordan - 2005 - 30 min. documentary)


Fostering Art (Director: Erica Jordan - 2004 - 15 min. short documentary)


In the Wake (Director: Erica Jordan - 2001 - 94 min. dramatic feature)


Ida McCray:  Families With A Future (Directed: Erica Jordan - 2001 - 6 min. documentary) Produced for Oxygen TV Channel.


Glenda Hope: The Tender Champ  (Director: Erica Jordan - 2001 - 6 min. documentary) Produced for Oxygen TV Channel


Tales from the Heart (Director: Erica Jordan - 1998 - 37 min. dramatic shorts series)


Walls of Sand (Director: Erica Jordan 1995 - 110 min. dramatic feature) distributor: Slamdance Channel


A Different Shade of Blue (Director: Erica Jordan - 1991 12 min. dramatic short)


Dance for One (Director: Erica Jordan - 1989 - 11 min. dramatic short)

Screenings and Presentations

  • 2020: Making of Three Decembers – Premiere, Opera San Jose​

  • 2019: Seeing Slavery – Finalist, Amsterdam’s Around International Film Festival; Award of Merit, Accolade Competition​

  • 2018: Seeing Slavery – Best Short Documentary, Los Angeles Film Festival Awards

  • 2017: Painted Nails – Johns Hopkins APAMSA; UNAFF Traveling Film Festival, Denver; Women’s Voices for the Earth, Montana; 8th Annual CSM Asian Pacific America Film Festival; Seattle Asian American Film Festival

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  • 2016: Painted Nails – Cinequest International Film Festival; CAAMFest; Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival; Disorient Asian American Film Festival (Courageous Womyn Award); Viet Film Festival; DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival; Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival; Chicago International Social Change Film Festival; ECO Film Festival, Kuala Lumpur; New Orleans Film Festival (Jury Award Finalist); UNAFF International Documentary Film Festival, Stanford University; California Film Institute, San Rafael Film Center; Main San Francisco Public Library

  • 2015: In Plain Sight – The International Film Festival on Human Rights, Buenos Aires

  • 2014: In Plain Sight – Napa Valley Film Festival; United Nations Film Festival; Mill Valley Film Festival

  • 2006: Saving Malcolm X – Video screened at San Francisco City Hall as part of a photo exhibit

  • 2001: In the Wake – New York International Independent Film & Video Festival (NY & LA); Black Point Film Festival, Wisconsin (Honorable Mention); Mill Valley Film Festival (Official Premiere Presentation); WinFemme Film Festival, Beverly Hills (Critic’s Choice Award); U.C. Davis International Film Festival (Honorable Mention)

  • 2001: Walls of Sand – Film Festival of Iranian Cineaste in Diaspora (Canada, New York); Women’s Iranian Film Festival, Pacific Film Archives, Berkeley; Light+Screen Film Festival, New York; Thesync.com (first contemporary feature on the web)

  • 1998: Tales From The Heart: The Belly Dance – Mill Valley Film Festival; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SF

BROADCAST

PAINTED NAILS

PBS Nationwide including but not limited to KQED to WNET airdates in 13 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia

INCLUDING: •  Charlotte (SCETV)• Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville (SCETV)• Indianapolis •    Las Vegas• Los Angeles• Orlando (WDSC & WEFS)• Philadelphia• Portland (OPB) •    San Antonio• San Diego • San Francisco (KRCB, KCSM & KQED) • Tulsa

Selected Presentations
CONTACT

CONTACT
Erica Jordan - Independent Film Director

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