Emma Piper-Burket is a visual artist, filmmaker, and writer using fiction, non-fiction, and collected media to investigate interactions between nature, society, and the human spirit. Her work is process-based and research driven, incorporating social trends, ancient history, science, politics, ephemera, and the natural world into her creative practice. Emma has received support from Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Ebert Foundation, Sundance Institute, Light Cone, Visual Studies Workshop, Marble House Project, and Middlebury Script Lab, among others for her creative works; her writing appears in Reverse Shot and RogerEbert.com. She holds an MFA in Cinema and Digital Media from FAMU in Prague, and a BA in Arabic and Classical Studies from Georgetown University and is currently a PhD student in Critical Media Practice at CU Boulder.
Selected Screenings, Awards, Publications & Residencies
2021
October // Engauge, Seattle, USA // Giant Eagle, Four Stars
October // Mubi Notebook // Collective Records: New York Film Festival's Currents
October // WNDX, Winnipeg, Canada // Giant Eagle, Four Stars
October // Drunken Film Festival Oakland, USA // Giant Eagle, Four Stars
September // Lyric Cinema, Fort Collins, USA // Giant Eagle, Four Stars & If the edges start to hurt
August // Mimesis Documentary Festival, Boulder, USA // Driving Dinosaurs
August // Telluride Transfer Warehouse, Telluride, USA // Driving Dinosaurs & If the edges start to hurt
June // Festival ECRA, Mexico // (Always) Next to Me
June // Winnipeg Underground Film Festival, Winnipeg, Canada // If the edges start to hurt
April // ICDOCS, Iowa City, USA // Giant Eagle Four Stars & (Always) Next to Me
March // 13rd Strangloscope, Brazil // The Lilac Game
2020
November // Moviate, Harrisburg, USA // Driving Dinosaurs
October // Fracto Film Festival, Berlin, Germany // If the edges start to hurt
October // Milwaukee Underground Film Festival, Milwaukee, USA // The Lilac Game
October // Drunken Film Festival, Oakland, USA // The Lilac Game
September // Naturalist in Residence // The Naturalist School, Omaha NE
September // Gallery S3026, Boulder, USA // Driving Dinosaurs
July // Gimli Film Festival, Gimli, Canada // The Lilac Game
July // TriQuarterly Review, USA // The Lilac Game
May // ICDOCS, USA // If the edges start to hurt & The Lilac Game
April // Artifact Small Format Film Festival, Canada // The Lilac Game
March // Ann Arbor Film Festival, USA // The Lilac Game
March // Cosmic Rays, USA // If the edges start to hurt
February // Pugnant Film Series, Greece // Driving Dinosaurs and Man in the Bushes
2019
December // Sharjah Short Film Platform, UAE // Driving Dinosaurs
November // CODEC Mexico City, Mexico // Driving Dinosaurs
November // Eindhoven Film Festival, Eindhoven Netherlands // Driving Dinosaurs
November // ULTRAcinema Oaxaca, Mexico // Driving Dinosaurs
November // Engauge Film Festival, Seattle USA // The Lilac Game
October // From the South, Thessaloniki, Greece // Iraq bans farming summer crops…
October // Imagine Science Film Festival, New York, USA // The Lilac Game
October // Transient Visions Film Festival, Johnson City, NY USA // Driving Dinosaurs
October // WNDX Film Festival, Winnipeg, Canada // Driving Dinosaurs
September // Light Cone // Atelier 105 Post Production Residency
September // Unseen Film Festival, Denver, Colorado, USA // Driving Dinosaurs
September // Save the Archives Film Festival, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA // Driving Dinosaurs
July // Gimli Film Festival, Gimli, Canada // Driving Dinosaurs
July // Muestra Movimiento Audiovisual, Guadalajara Mexico // Iraq bans farming summer crops…
July // We Make Movies International Film Festival, Los Angeles, USA // Station Girl
June // Bex Film Festival, Beckley, WV USA // Driving Dinosaurs
May - August // Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha Nebraska, USA // Artist in Residence
May // Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester NY, USA // Project Space Residency
May // Moviate Underground Film Festival, Harrisburg PA // Who can shoot a firefly?
May // Braziers Mini Indi Film Festival, OBSERVED ECOLOGIES, Oxfordshire, UK // The Man in the Bushes
May // NewFilmmakers NY, Anthology Film Archives, New York City, NY // The Man in the Bushes
April // Santa Cruz International Film Festival, Santa Cruz, Argentina // The Man in the Bushes
March // Ann Arbor Film Festival, Michigan USA // Driving Dinosaurs
March // Artifact Small Format Film Festival, Calgary Canada // Who can shoot a firefly?
March // Feminist Border Arts Film Festival, Las Cruces NM, USA // Iraq bans summer crops…
March // Denver Underground Film Festiva, Denver, CO // Station Girl
February // Cosmic Rays Film Festival, North Carolina USA // Driving Dinosaurs
February // WAV Venice Audio-Visual Show, Venice, Italy // Station Girl and The Man in the Bushes
January // Sharjah Film Platform, Sharjah UAE // The Man in the Bushes
2018
November // UltracinemaMX // The Man in the Bushes
November // LIGHT YEAR 43 New York, NY // Iraq water crisis
October // EVOLVE/INVOLVE London, UK // Exhibition
October // Drunken Film Festival Oakland // Official Selection, The Man in the Bushes
September // Hudson Blvd Park Film Festival // Official Selection, Dream City
September // Counterpath - The Unseen Festival // Official Selection, The Man in the Bushes
June // Winnipeg Underground Film Festival // When a Seagull Breaks its Wing
May // Moviate Underground Film Festival // Official Selection, The Man in the Bushes
May // London Greek Film Festival // Official Selection, The Man in the Bushes
May // Various Small Flames // Music Video Premiere, SNAP by Sam Moss
April // AxW, Anthology Film Archives // Special Screening, The Man in the Bushes
April // The West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival, Morgantown, WV // The Man in the Bushes, Official Selection
April // Lucca Film Festival, Italy // Official Selection, The Man in the Bushes
March // Women Writer's Week, Rogerebert.com // Video Essay, The Life of a Woman, Directed by Women
March // IBAFF, Internacional Festival de Cine de Murcia, Spain // Official Selection, The Man in the Bushes
February // aCinema, aDifferent Festival, Milwaukee Wisconsin // Official Selection, The Man in the Bushes
January // Middlebury Script Lab // Sweet Relief in Crystal Palace
January // Reverse Shot, Review // Vazante
2017
November // Reverse Shot, Take Six: Time Symposium // Zabriskie Point
October // WNDX Festival of Moving Image, Winnipeg // Official Selection, #bestdirectors
July // RogerEbert.com // The History of America and Russia's Cinematic Cold War
May // Reverse Shot, Executive Orders Symposium // The House Is Black
May // Film Inquiry, Review by Sasha Kohan // DREAM CITY: A Personal Documentary with Political Impact
April // Fandor // Dream City
March // Women Writers Week, Rogerebert.com // The Most Influential Filmmakers of All Time
March // Winnipeg Underground Film Festival Banned Series, Pt. 1 Iraq // Dream City screening
February // EXPLODED VIEW microCINEMA, Tucson Arizona // Dream City screening
February // Rogerebert.com // Sundance 2017: The Natural World in the New Climate Sidebar and Beyond
January // Sundance/Ebert Fellowship for Film Criticism, Park City Utah
January // Rogerebert.com // Sundance 2017 Interview: "Kuso"
January // Reverse Shot // First Look 2017: Documentary Shorts
2016
December // Reverse Shot // Varda's Later Work: From Then to Now
November // Filmette Film Festival, New York // Official Selection, Dream City
October // Marble House Project, Dorset Vermont // Artist in Resident
July // High Coast International Film Festival, Sweden // Official Selection, How to Build a Terrarium
May // Reverse Shot True Stories Symposium // The Wolfpack/Mustang
May // Oberhausen Seminar, Germany // Fellow
May // Anthology Film Archives, New York // Short Experimental Documentaries, How to Build a Terrarium
2015
September // Reverse Shot // Toward an Iraqi Kurdish Cinema
September // Bideodromo International Experimental Film and Video Festival, Bilbao Spain // Official Selection, How to Build a Terrarium
April // Prism Pipe, Pehrspace in Echo Park Los Angeles // A few seconds of something beautiful
March // Fris Hus Budapest, Hungary // Official Selection, How to Build a Terrarium
2014
June // Videotheque, Sheffeld Doc/Fest, UK // How to Build a Terrarium
2013
November // FAMUfest, Czech Republic // Official Selection, How to Build a Terraium
November // MIA present Moments in Time at the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasedena California // A Tour of the Sulaymaniyah Museum
October // Jihlava Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic // How to Build a Terrarium
May // Monaco Charity Film Festival, Monaco // Special Jury Prize, The Past is Better Than Now
2012
November // NDU International Film Festival, Lebanon // The Past is Better Than Now
July // Civil Development Organization, Iraqi Kurdistan // Media Fellow
February // The Splendid Table // Radio Interview
2011
May // Anthology Film Archives, New York // Hungry Filmmakers, The Iraqi Seed Project
May // The Solutions Journal // Renewing Agriculture in Iraq
2010
September // Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster Pennsylvania USA // Environmental Speaker Series, Iraqi Seed Project
2008
September // The Last Supper Salon, New York // Kitchen Caravan Preserving Place Installation