Jake Yuzna

Jake Yuzna is an American film director, screenwriter, and curator. His debut feature Open was the first American film to win the Teddy Jury Prize[1][2] at the Berlin Film Festival and in 2005 Yuzna become the youngest recipient of funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Jake Yuzna
Jake Yuzna receiving the Teddy Jury Prize in 2010
Born	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Occupation	Film director and screenwriter
Years active	2004-present

Although known mainly for his work in film, Yuzna has curated several retrospectives, exhibitions and special projects. In 2010, he founded the first cinema program at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. Between 2011 - 2013 he organized the first fellowship, publication and conference to argue nightlife as a form of contemporary art.[3][4][5][6] In addition, Yuzna has authored books on contemporary art, design, and culture as well as contributed to ArtForum.[7]

He has also curated the first American retrospectives of artists and filmmakers including Alejandro Jodorowsky,[8] Sion Sono,[9] Gregg Araki,[10] Francois Sagat, and Quentin Crisp.[11] In addition, Yuzna curated the first museum surveys of Metamodernsim,[12] the New French Extremity,[13] and the medium of VHS.[14]

Yuzna is the son of poet Susan Yuzna and nephew to horror film director and producer Brian Yuzna.[15]