ANDREW HAFITZ

Andrew Hafitz has been editing films since 1995.  Along the way, he's collaborated with seasoned directors and newcomers alike, including Brad Anderson (Beirut,) Larry Clark (Ken Park, Bully,) Whit Stillman (Damsels in Distress, The Last Days of Disco,) Lodge Kerrigan (Keane,) and Meera Menon (Equity.)

Three of his films with younger directors have premiered in U.S. Dramatic Competition at Sundance, including Equity, Don't Let Me Drown (Cruz Angeles, 2009), and Here (Braden King, 2011).  In 2015, the micro-budget Naz & Maalik, written and directed by another young collaborator, Jay Dockendorf, premiered at SXSW in advance of a GLAAD Media Award nomination as Best Film (Limited Release).

Beirut, selected as part of the Premieres section of Sundance in 2018, marks Hafitz's return to Middle East subject matter.  In 2003 he edited True Life: I Live in the Terror Zone, about Palestinian and Israeli youth living in the West Bank for producer-director David Schisgall.  He again teamed with Schisgall for a documentary following American military and Iraqi civilians during the first months of the Iraq War.  That show, True Life: I'm Living in Iraq, won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Network News Documentary for MTV in 2005.

Hafitz's most recent feature, Empty Metal, currently in post-production, is the story of a punk-rock band recruited by a Native American–Rastafarian–Buddhist coalition of elders to assassinate law-enforcement officers who have killed innocent civilians.