The Genius of Marian

#TheGeniusOfMarian
PBS Premiere: Sept. 8, 2014Check the broadcast schedule »

Filmmaker Bio

Banker WhiteBanker White (Director/Cinematographer) is a multi-disciplinary artist based in San Francisco. His projects have been supported by the Sundance Documentary Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Capital, the Tribeca Film Institute, Impact Partners, the LEF Foundation, the BRITDOC Foundation, the Catapult Film Fund, The Fledgling Fund, Cal Humanities and the Pacific Pioneer Fund. He is the director/producer of the documentary Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars (POV 2007), which tells the remarkable story of a group of six Sierra Leonean musicians. The film was nominated by the IDA for best feature in 2006; won grand jury awards at AFI Fest, the Full Frame Film Festival and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival; and earned audience awards at SXSW and the Miami International Film Festival. It was broadcast on POV in North America, HBO Latin America and NHK in Japan, among others. Banker also founded WeOwnTV, a collaborative filmmaking and storytelling project based in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, Anna Fitch, and daughter, Dylan. Banker received a bachelor of arts degree from Middlebury College in 1995 and a master's degree from the California College of the Arts in 2000.

Anna FitchAnna Fitch (Co-Director/Producer) is an Emmy-winning director with a background in natural history filmmaking and a bachelor's degree in entomology. Her documentary work has aired on the National Geographic Channel, TLC, Channel 4 and PBS. Awards and nominations include the 2003 News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Direction for Living With Bugs: Close Encounters. In 2003, BugWorld: Close Encounters was a finalist in the popular science and natural history category at the Banff Television Festival. In 2011, her narrative short The Burning Wigs of Sedition was in competition at many festivals, including the Seattle International Film Festival, and won a best of festival prize at the Black Maria Film and Video Festival and an audience award at SF Indiefest. Anna lives in San Francisco with her husband, Banker White, and daughter, Dylan.