(Sociology, May 2013)
Thesis Title: Dying of Encouragement: From Pitch to Production in Hollywood
Committee: Orlando Patterson (Chair), Christopher Winship, and Jason Beckfield
Current Position: Writer and Film Director

Rupert Russell is a writer and director. His first feature documentary, Freedom for the Wolf, was nominated for the Cinema for Peace Most Valuable Documentary of the Year, won the Audience Award at the Slamdance Film Festival and the Best Political Film Prize at the Protobello Film Festival, and screened at 40 film festivals worldwide, including IDFA andSheffield Doc/Fest. Executive produced by BBC Storyville founder Nick Fraser, it tells story of the global crisis of democracy from the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong to the failure of the Arab Spring in Tunisia to the rise of Donald Trump in America. He is currently working on his next feature documentary on the commodities markets, commissioned byARTE, ARD, and SVT