Natalie Jasmine Harris
Directing
Natalie Jasmine Harris is an award-winning filmmaker with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Harris’ filmmaking is deeply rooted in exploring tradition, coming-of-age experiences, showcasing Black joy, and imagining pathways to liberation for marginalized communities. She incorporates these themes across her fictional, documentary, and commercial work. Natalie's latest short film, GRACE, had its world premiere at The 2024 Sundance Film Festival and has screened at dozens of film festivals since including Torino Film Festival (Turin, Italy), Palm Springs International ShortFest and BlackStar Film Festival. In February 2025, the film received a Vimeo Staff Pick distinction and was later acquired to stream by The Criterion Channel. PURE, Natalie's NYU thesis short film, received The Directors Guild of America's Student Film Award and was acquired by HBO to stream on Max. Natalie is developing a feature-length version of PURE with co-writer Yoko Kohmoto and award-winning producer Avril Speaks, which she hopes will become her debut feature film. The project has garnered support from SFFILM's Rainin Screenwriting Grant, The Gotham Week Project Market, Outfest's Screenwriting Lab, The Toronto LGBTQ+ Financing Forum, Film Independent Fast Track, and The Women In Film x Sundance Financing Intensive. While in a documentary filmmaking fellowship with Traverse32 and Outfest Film Festival, Natalie directed the documentary short film, BEN IN BLOOM, which was recently released in partnership with the It Gets Better Foundation and has screened at festivals such as The Philadelphia Film Festival and BFI Flare. In 2024, Natalie was hired to direct for the documentary short film series FLOWERS from YouTube and Academy-Award Winning Breakwater Studios. Her episode became the series' first to surpass 1 million views, ultimately amassing over 8 million views. Natalie has participated in artist programs with Film at Lincoln Center, GLAAD, The New York Foundation for the Arts, SFFILM, Outfest, PBS Creative Voices, and Sundance Institute.
