Matthew Mishory | Writer & Director

Filmmaker Matthew Mishory was named a “rising talent” by Variety. His work is noted for its exquisite visual style and expansive narrative language. Equally comfortable working in (and in-between) documentary and fiction forms, he has told the stories of outsiders and visionaries who have changed the way we understand art, history, and the natural world.


Matthew recently shot the hybrid narrative-doc feature Fioretta, in Prague, Venice, and Vienna, for a 2023 release. He also wrapped Who Are the Marcuses? (“A great documentary” - Film Threat), which premiered at the 2023 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Matthew's 2018 film No Place of Exile, about the modernist composer and pianist Artur Schnabel, premiered on the Arte network. The film was shot in Switzerland, Italy, Vienna, and Berlin, utilizing unexpected textures (super8, drone footage, back-projection) and celebrated German actor Udo Samel to chart Schnabel's course through the emotional and physical landscapes of the 20th century.

His 2015 documentary Absent was filmed in the remotest reaches of rural Moldova in the former Soviet Union. It was designated a “must-see” film by Cineuropa. Cine Maldito named Absent one of the top ten films of the year.

Matthew's feature film debut, the 35mm Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean was released theatrically in the United States, the UK, and Germany. The San Francisco Chronicle declared Joshua Tree “mesmerizing and sexy,” and Artforum pronounced it “a nuanced portrayal of an entire era.”

As a commercial director, Matthew shot the national "Powerful Performance” campaign starring back-to-back NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. It was featured on the 2019 Super Bowl broadcast. Other brand films include a second collaboration with Antetokounmpo, a surf campaign with pro surfer Tia Blanco, and a Turkish Airlines campaign shot in southeastern Europe.

Matthew's short film, Delphinium, about artist Derek Jarman, was installed in the British Film Institute's National Film Archive. The film was subsequently re-released in the UK by the BFI as part of the year-long Jarman2014 celebration. In 2017, it was presented by the Tate Britain Museum in London.