Matt Wolf (filmmaker)

Matt Wolf
Matt Wolf at the premiere of Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project during the Montclair Film Festival 2019
Born (1982-05-11) May 11, 1982 (age 42)
San Jose, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Documentarian, producer, film director
Years active2008–present

Matt Wolf (born May 11, 1982) is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and producer. His notable films include Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, Teenage, Bayard & Me,[1] Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project, and Spaceship Earth. In 2010, he was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship.[2] His subjects include youth culture, artists, archives, music, and queer history.[3]

Life

Wolf was born in San Jose, California. He attended film school at New York University in New York City, where he continues to be based.[1] Wolf is gay.[4][5][6]

Work

Wolf's films have played widely in festivals and have been distributed internationally in theaters and on television. His first feature documentary, Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, is about the avant-garde cellist and disco producer Arthur Russell. His second feature, Teenage, is about the birth of youth culture, based on a book by the British punk author Jon Savage.

In 2019 his documentary about Marion Stokes titled Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project,[7] premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.[8] The film was released by Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber and is to air on PBS Independent Lens.[9][10]

His two-hour documentary on Biosphere 2 titled Spaceship Earth premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Neon in May 2020.[11]

Wolf also directs and produces for television, including 2015's HBO Documentary It’s Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise, which premiered at Sundance and was executive produced by Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner.[12][13] In 2025, Wolf directed Pee-Wee as Himself revolving around the life and career of Paul Reubens for HBO.[14][15]

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

  • I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard (documentary short, 2012)
  • The Face of AIDS (documentary short, 2016)
  • The Town I Live In (documentary short, 2017)
  • Bayard & Me (documentary short, 2017)
  • Another Hayride (documentary short, 2021)

References

  1. ^ a b Dawson, Nick (September 26, 2008). "Matt Wolf, Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell". Filmmaker. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  2. ^ "Matt Wolf". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  3. ^ "Dreaming Documentary: Matt Wolf"". Mousse Magazine, October–November 2013
  4. ^ McGarry, Kevin. "1000 Words: Matt Wolf". ArtForum. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  5. ^ Comer, Stuart (January 10, 2013). "Dreaming Documentary: Matt Wolf". Mousse Magazine. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  6. ^ Weston, Hilary (November 29, 2023). "Wild Combinations: A Conversation with Matt Wolf". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  7. ^ The Criterion Channel's November 2023 Lineup|Current|The Criterion Collection
  8. ^ "Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project [program note]". Tribeca Film Festival. 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  9. ^ "Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project | | Independent Lens | PBS". Independent Lens. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  10. ^ Kay, Jeremy (August 6, 2019). "Zeitgeist Films, Kino Lorber team up on 'Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project' (exclusive)". Screen. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  11. ^ Lang, Brent (February 13, 2020). "Neon Buys Hot Sundance Doc 'Spaceship Earth' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  12. ^ It's Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise (2015) - IMDb
  13. ^ "Review: ‘It’s Me, Hilary’ Documentary Spotlights Eloise’s Illustrator"". New York Times, March 22, 2015
  14. ^ Kroll, Justin (March 11, 2021). "HBO Planning Documentary On Actor Paul Reubens With Josh & Benny Safdie Producing". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  15. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic (December 11, 2024). "Sundance 2025: JLo, Sly Stone, Putin, Ayo Edebiri, André Holland, & Ex-NZ PM Jacinda Ardern Films Among Park City Festival Offerings". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  16. ^ "Spaceship Earth". Sundance Institute. Retrieved January 23, 2020.