Bob Nesson
Bob Nesson is a documentary filmmaker and fine art photographer. His work focuses on social, economic, and environmental issues and serve as catalysts for direct change. His current work is a feature documentary HOLDING UP THE SKY.
Recent projects include short “sister cities” videos meant to provide a sense of common humanity to people in blue and red cities; and a documentary project that provides insight into the dangers of misunderstanding between nuclear powers like North Korea and Iran, starting with the Cuban Missile Crisis. His documentary work has screened on PBS, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and international broadcasters including NHK/Japan, CBC/Canada, CCTV China and others.
Bob has been adjunct professor at Emerson College since 2005, where he won the Stanzler prize for outstanding teaching. His innovative interdisciplinary courses — like Filmmaking and the Environment, Urban Studies and Filmmaking, and Documentary for Social Action – directly involve his students in using the visual arts for positive change. Bob has taught filmmaking workshops in five countries. He is a military veteran who served with the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division.
Additional recent work includes:
• Power to the Pedals: Wenzday Jane and the Culture of Change, [director, cinematographer, editor] a non-fiction film that profiles a woman whose revolutionary cargo bike business lowers the carbon footprint of transportation in her community.
• If They Had Known [co-director with Lauren Shaw, cinematographer, editor] a non-fiction film about a death that shouldn’t have happened. At a party, a college student casually mixed a prescribed medication with alcohol – and died. This film has been screened 500+ high schools and colleges, with discussions to educate young people about risks, and saving lives.
• Seaport Views, [co-director with Peter Vanderwarker, cinematographer, editor] a critical look at new urban development in Boston’s Seaport neighborhood.
• The Apocalypse Letters [director, cinematographer, editor] a short documentary about the correspondence between U.S. President John F. Kennedy and U.S.S.R. Premiere Nikita Khrushchev that headed off a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963.
• Frozen Chosen [cinematographer] a feature documentary that looks deeply into the life of an evangelical Christian as he struggles to establish a church in Boston’s secular environment. Elizabeth Gardner, producer/director.
• Marion Stoddart and the Work of 1000 [cinematographer], a documentary that follows the work of an environmentalist who led a fight to transform the badly polluted Nashua River into a clean waterway, and helped get the Clean Water Act passed. Sue Edwards, producer.
