Maria Finitzo has been an award-winning filmmaker for over 20 years. She has directed and produced projects for network television, public broadcasting and the cable market. Her work as a filmmaker has taken her from the Galapagos Islands to Russia and has involved subjects ranging from the command and control of nuclear weapons to the psychology of adolescent girls.
Maria is a long time associate of the award-winning documentary company Kartemquin Films. Her most recent project with Kartemquin is Mapping Stem Cell Research: Terra Incognita, a feature length film that puts a human face on the promising but controversial science of stem cell research. The documentary will aired nationally on PBS’ Independent Lens series in early 2008, as well as internationally on the CBC, SBS Australia and NOGA Israel. Prior to Terra Incognita, she finished produced and directed No Direction Home, a short film produced in conjunction with Public Policy Productions, about young people aging out of foster care.
Her most well-known film, 5 GIRLS is a feature length documentary film that delves into the hearts and minds of five remarkable young women. The film is a coming of age drama shot in the style of cinema verite over the course of three years. 5 GIRLS was a special presentation of the PBS non- fiction series P.O.V. and premiered on national public television in the fall of 2001. Called by the New York Times… “ A remarkable testament to the resiliency of youth” and by the Santa Fe Reporter, “one of the most powerful examinations of teenage life ever created,” the film was awarded the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence from The Council on Foundations, The Silver Award from The Chicago Film & Television Competition and an award for Outstanding Achievement from the Parent’s Guide to Children’s Media.
5 GIRLS premiered at the Taos Talking Pictures Film Festival and had a theatrical run at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. It premiered in New York at the Walter Reade Theater, sponsored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Independent Feature Project.
Maria has been a Producer and Writer for the PBS science series The New Explorers. The series was awarded The Ohio State Award, The Chicago International Film Festival Gold Plaque, the CINE Golden Eagle Award and the George Foster Peabody Award. Under the banner of her own production company, Maria has produced and directed a variety of educational and broadcast programs including Whales, an episode of the National Audubon Society’s Audubon’s Animal Adventures, a children’s nature series for the Disney Channel. The series was awarded the Ace Cable Award for Best Children’s Series.
Maria has also directed and produced a two-part special titled On the Brink… Doomsday for The Learning Channel and Towers Productions. Produced all over the world, this documentary examines episodes in history in which political tensions brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. She was born outside of Chicago, Illinois and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in Radio-TV-Film. Maria is currently finishing her MFA at Northwestern University in Writing for the Stage and Screen, and developing her next project.
The deadline for Summer internships at Kartemquin has passed. Applications are currently being accepted for the Fall.