Anelisa Garfunkel is a writer, filmmaker and educator. Her career as a storyteller began over fifteen years ago producing educational films on the tiny island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. Since then she has written, produced, and directed commercials, documentaries, scripted films, webseries, digital content and more. Her personal work has been included in festivals, screenings, and exhibitions in the US and abroad. She has produced content for National Geographic and the History Channel, GreatCall, The Nature Conservancy, and Unicef, to name a few. Her documentaries about disability, One Hundred Steps, and We Will Ride are often used to teach disability rights in university classrooms and advocacy organizations. Her short film, “Cunda’s Pasteles” premiered as part of the New York Women in Film and Television 2018 Immigrant Stories Series. Anelisa also writes short stories, essays and screenplays including an illustrated novella entitled, A Conjuring in The Gyre, that she also illustrated.
She has a BS in Journalism from Boston University and an MFA in Visual Storytelling from The School of Visual Arts. She has taught filmmaking in the SVA MPS Directing program, The Maine Media Workshops, Northshore Community College, and the College of Micronesia. She currently resides in Colorado where she is co-owner of Rope Swing Stories, a multimedia production company and works as a writer and producer for Deloitte Digital. Anelisa’s stories are born from a life spent exploring, climbing, diving, and adventuring around the world.
Anelisa’s mentor was Samantha Gorman.
