Nomi Talisman

Nomi Talisman is an Academy Award nominated filmmaker and fine artist. She works collaboratively with Dee Hibbert-Jones on film, new media and fine art projects that address critical social issues, politics and personal testimony.

Talisman was awarded the Filmmaker Award with Hibbert-Jones from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke (2015) created to honor and support documentary filmmakers who connect to the power of the documentary tradition and whose works are potential catalysts for education and change. She and Hibbert-Jones were also awarded the Gideon award for support to indigent minorities (2016).

Talisman and Hibbert-Jones’ most recent animated documentary film Last Day of Freedom won Best Short Documentary at the International Documentary (IDA) Awards 2015 and was nominated for an 88th Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject. Last Day of Freedom is a portrait of one man’s decision to stand by his brother, a Veteran returning from war, as he faces criminal charges, racism, and ultimately the death penalty, described by Indiewire as “A searing study of our most pressing social issues.”

Last Day of Freedom toured festivals internationally and won Best Short Documentary at Full Frame Documentary Film Festival; Best Short Documentary at the Hamptons International Film Festival, Outstanding Documentary Short Film at Tall Grass Int. Film Festival, Best Animation at Bar Harbor, Honorary Mention for Best Animated Documentary Short Film, Dok Leipzig, Best Experimental Short Atlanta Docufest, Platinum Award Winner Spotlight Documentary Film Awards and Impact Award at (In) Justice for All International Film Festival. The film was first broadcast on Truly California, KQED, is now broadcast internationally and is available on Netflix.

I-140, an installation of video, photographic prints and hand painted signs, described inequality and civil rights issues in immigration policies towards same sex couples, using Hibbert-Jones and Talisman’s own situation as subject. The project sparked interest among diverse audiences reaching beyond fine art and film audiences, to broader political forums. I-140, was exhibited in screenings and galleries at venues including the International Society for Electronic Arts (ISEA) in 2012 and featured in Artillery, volume 5, issue 5 (6-7/11), the work circulated internationally on same-sex advocacy sites and was picked up by news blogs internationally.

Talisman and Hibbert-Jones’ current project Living Condition is an interactive documentary film and new media project that extends the reach of their animated film Last Day of Freedom. The project explores the crisis in our criminal justice system through the stories of several individuals with a relative on death row.

Talisman is a MacDowell Colony Fellow and a Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Fellow. She is a freelance editor, animator and motion graphics designer. Born in Israel she lives in San Francisco with her partner and their son.