Nora Marris is a NYC-based filmmaker from Buffalo, NY.
She works in a collaborative, actor-driven process, and her films often follow women with abrasive personalities and toe the line between comedy and drama.
A selection of recent work (2019-2024):
SHINER (2024)
Written and directed by Nora Marris
Produced by Nicole Pagonis
Starring Olivia Fairless and Ivy Strohmaier
Self-destructive in the aftermath of her best friend's suicide, a college senior crashes her older sister's party.
12’; 4K digital; USA
Filmed in New York, NY
Official selection Montclair Film Festival 2024, Buffalo International Film Festival 2024
Completed in partial fulfillment of degree requirements for Columbia University MFA Film
Link available upon request
TAIL BETWEEN HER LEGS (2023)
Written and directed by Nora Marris
Produced by Katherine Burns and Nora Marris
Starring Caitlyn Marr and John DiMino
A comedy-drama about fantasizing over National Book Award winners, passive-aggressive vacuuming, and refusing to apologize.
14’; 4K digital; USA
Filmed in Durhamville, NY
Official selection Buffalo International Film Festival 2023, Poppy Jasper International Film Festival 2024, Georgetown University Film Festival 2024
Completed in partial fulfillment of degree requirements for Columbia University MFA Film
HER HABITAT (2022)
Written and directed by Nora Marris
Produced by Katherine Burns
Starring Hannah Monsour and Shah Motia
A short portrait film about a severely depressed woman who finds temporary solace in a beetle on her windowsill.
7’; UHD digital; USA
Filmed in Dix Hills, Long Island, NY
Official Selection Buffalo International Film Festival 2022, Honorable Mention Slow Drift Film Festival 2023, Official Selection NYS International Film Festival 2022, Best Drama Nominee SWIFF 2023
Completed in partial fulfillment of degree requirements for Columbia University MFA Film
EVKA & ARNO (2019)
Directed by Nora Marris
Written by Sequoia Hatch
Story by Nora Marris, Sequoia Hatch, & Adam Doner
Produced by Nora Marris, Sequoia Hatch, & Adam Doner
Starring Rozárka Krycnerová & Alexandr Maier
After moving to a new neighborhood, nine-year-old Evka accompanies her birthday party clown father to one of his gigs in an attempt to make friends.
8’; color 16mm film; Czech Republic/USA
Filmed in Prague, CZ
Official Selection Montana International Film Festival 2020, Prague Youth Film Festival 2019, Georgetown University Film Festival 2020
An experimental short based on music for violin, cello, piano, drumset, electric guitar, ancillary percussion, and recorded elements that deals thematically in memory, missed opportunity, and decontextualization.
18’; black and white 8mm film, UHD digital; USA
Filmed in Buffalo, NY, Prague, CZ, and Chesapeake Bay, MD
Completed as senior capstone project for music composition BA from American University
QUITE SOBERLY AND WITHOUT WINGS (2020)
Written, directed, edited, shot, and music by Nora Marris
SMITH GARDENS: WHEN YOU’RE GONE (2020)
Directed & edited by Nora Marris
Produced & written by Nora Marris and Jamila Adams
Director of Photography Jamila Adams
Starring Smith Gardens
A music video for the Smith Gardens song “When You’re Gone,” filmed at ATYOLK studios in Maryland. Features visuals distorted through reflections, glass, and other materials.
4’; color 16mm film, 4K digital; USA