Jessie is a SAFTA nominated, award winning director from Cape Town. Her experience with performance in the theatre world has informed her ability to work across different genres and mediums. Thematically, her work often stems from ideas surrounding girlhood, and coming of age stories.
Her films have screened at multiple international film festivals including Doc NYC, AFI Docs, MoMA Doc Fortnight and Visions Du Reel, and have received Vimeo Staff Picks. In 2017 she was named a "Marie Claire Future Shaper" for Marie Claire Magazine and in 2018 she was named a Mail & Guardian's "200 Young South African".
Her short film, "Drummies", was acquired by the New Yorker, and her latest documentary, "Faces of Fortune", which was funded by the NFVF & DSAC, premiered at Encounters Documentary Film Festival in 2023. She is currently in post-production on her first feature documentary "The Home", which has participated in IFP Film Week, Sheffield Meet Market, Berlinale Talents, Durban Film Mart, IDFA Academy & Visions Du Reel Rough Cut Lab.
Jessie was named as a "Design Indaba Emerging Creative" for their 2023 cohort. She is represented for commercials by They Films. She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Documentary Film from Stanford University.
AWARDS
Vimeo Staff Pick, Wavelengths (2022)
Vimeo Staff Pick, The Gallery That Destroys All Shame (2022) Best of the Year
New Yorker Documentary Series, Drummies (2022)
SFFILM, Jury Prize, Wavelengths (2021)
IDFA Academy (2018)