HANNAH HEER has been a director, producer, writer and cinematographer of award-winning independent films for more than twenty years.

Hannah Heer's new documentary film, KOL ISHAH – THE RABBI IS A WOMAN (2008), provides an unprecedented insight into the rabbinical world. Hannah Heer spent a decade creating a ‘moving picture’ exploring the voices of four women rabbis; essentially a highly enigmatic subject and theme.

Hannah Heer’s feature length documentary, THE ART OF REMEMBRANCE - SIMON WIESENTHAL, chronicles the life and work of Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor, who was one of the most important Jewish humanitarians of the 20th century. The film was short-listed for an Academy Award in the Feature Documentary Category.

THE OTHER EYE is a thought-provoking feature documentary about the legendary filmmaker G.W.PABST, who was the director of such classic silent works as JOYLESS STREET and PANDORA’S BOX. New to the documentary film language, THE OTHER EYE, introduced a stunning color structure and a jazzy style, and premiered at the 1991 New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center.

Before turning to creating documentary films, Hannah Heer (also known as Johanna Heer) was a Director of Photography on feature films. Her innovative camera movements and lighting design on SUGARBABY was recognized as a major contribution to the film’s international success. SUGARBABY was the ‘surprise- hit’ of the New York Film Festival in 1985, and was exhibited theatrically and on Television in 40 countries worldwide. In 1986, the American Cinematographer Magazine, published an extensive article about Hannah Heer’s work as director of photography.

Hannah Heer was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 1983 Hungarian Film Festival for Gabor Body’s feature film, DOG’s NIGHT SONG.

In New York City, Hannah Heer was the Director of Photography and Producer of the avant-garde independent feature SUBWAY RIDERS. This film was chosen as Outstanding Film of the Year by the British Film Institute at the London Film Festival in 1981. SUBWAY RIDERS received critical acclaim at numerous Film Festivals from France to Canada and is still shown and revisited by Art Institutes.

Ms. Heer has served as a Guest Professor in Vienna and and as an Adjunct Professor in New York.

She has collaborated with Werner Schmiedel on video art and video-art installations.

Besides TV screenings on three continents, Ms. Heer’s films have been invited to world wide film festivals as: New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Athens (Ohio), San Francisco, Telluride, Montreal, Deauville, Cannes, London, Edinburgh, Rotterdam, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Figueira da Foz, Valladolid, Jerusalem, Sao Paulo, and Mumbai. Her films have been screened at the American Museum of the Moving Image, the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in Houston and numerous Colleges, Libraries, Synagogues and Museums around the country and in Europe.

Pursuing her early interest to explore a variety of art forms, Hannah Heer is currently working on several mixed media and photography projects.

Hannah Heer and Werner Schmiedel are the founders of the independent film production company River Lights Pictures, Inc., New York.