Emile Bokaer

Emile Bokaer is an award-winning documentary filmmaker active in the cinema industry since 1985 — when, at age two, he began absorbing a love of cinema at his family’s movie theater Fall Creek Pictures in Ithaca, NY.

His recent work as a producer includes A FIELD GUIDE TO COASTAL FORTIFICATIONS (dir. Tijana Petrovic, World Premiere IFF Rotterdam 2023, Winner Best Film Award BelDocs 2023) and THE STREET NETWORK, a Stripe Press short film (Director, Producer, Editor). Feature postproduction credits include INFORMANT (dir. Jamie Meltzer, Winner Grand Jury Prize DOC NYC 2012), TRUE SON (dir. Kevin Gordon, Tribeca Film Festival 2014), TRUE CONVICTION (dir. Jamie Meltzer, Tribeca 2017, Independent Lens), and THE RETURN OF ELDER PINGREE (dir. Geoff Pingree). Editor credits include LOST AND FOUND IN GUANTÁNAMO (dir. Yael Bridge), WATCH OUT FOR BULLETS (dir. Emmanuel Dayan + Nicholas Berger), and THE F WORD (dir. Nico Opper, Gotham Awards Nominee).

WE PLAY CINEMA is Emile’s second documentary feature as director, after PURE FRUIT (2012). At any given time, approximately half of his collaborators are family and friends — what he calls “family-style cinema.”

Emile lives in Oakland, California with his wife and fellow filmmaker Tijana Petrovic, and their daughter Tisa Lilo Bokaer.