Sophia Kruz
  • DOCUMENTARY
    • Little Stones
    • Ride the Tiger
    • Short Form
    • A Space for Music
    • Time Dances On
  • News
  • about
  • DOCUMENTARY
    • Little Stones
    • Ride the Tiger
    • Short Form
    • A Space for Music
    • Time Dances On
  • News
  • about

About Sophia

Picture

​Sophia Kruz is an EMMY® Award-winning documentary filmmaker and TEDx speaker. Her work has been broadcast nationally and screened at film festivals and museums around the world. She was awarded the 2018 Susan B. Anthony Community Award from the University of Michigan for her service and leadership in the promotion of equal rights for women. 

Her most recent documentary, LITTLE STONES, follows four women using art - dance, music, fashion and graffiti - to create change for women and girls in India, Brazil, Senegal, Germany and Kenya. The film is Kruz's directorial feature debut and won Best Documentary at the 2017 Vail Film Festival, Best Foreign Documentary at the Female Eye Film Festival, and an Award of Excellence at the Impact Docs Awards. It is currently on the international film festival circuit.

Formerly a producer in Detroit Public TV's National Documentary Unit, Kruz produced RIDE THE TIGER (2016), an hour-long documentary on neuroscience and bipolar disorder for national PBS broadcast. From 2010-2013, Kruz held the position of Video Producer & Editor at UMS, the University of Michigan's international performing arts presenter, where she produced, directed, and edited the EMMY Award-winning hour-long documentary A SPACE FOR MUSIC, A SEAT FOR EVERYONE. 

In 2015, Kruz co-founded the non-profit organization Driftseed, which seeks to empower women and girls in the U.S. and around the world through the art of documentary storytelling. Kruz was the recipient of the 2015-2016 University of Michigan Center for the Education of Women Visiting Social Activist fellowship, and her documentary work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Womanity Foundation, Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs, and many others. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan Screen Arts & Cultures program (B.A. 2011).

Press
  • Dreamer & Disrupter: Sophia Kruz uses her films and nonprofit to help women worldwide (Pulp: Arts Around Ann Arbor)
  • 'Little Stones' Awarded Nearly $23,000 for Education Campaign (MLive)
  • Preview: Sophia Kruz's 'Little Stones' Sheds Light on Art and Gender (Pulp: Arts Around Ann Arbor)
  • Detroit filmmaker spotlights female artists creating change around the world (NPR)
  • Sophia Kruz (SLICE Ann Arbor)
  • And the Award Goes To... (Current Magazine)
  • UMS' Hill Auditorium Wins Michigan Emmy Award (MLive)​
  • UMS Wins Emmy for Hill Documentary (Michigan Alumni Association)​​
Watch Kruz's TEDxUofM talk from February 2017.
  • ​​Local advocates of Equality Utah gather for film screening, merriment over Supreme Court rulings (St. George News)
  • ​Documentary bows on Hill (Michigan Today)
  • True Beginners (Between the Lines)
  • U of M gad nabs best doc honors (Current Magazine)
  • Local filmmaker wins state honor for documentary about her father (The Ann Arbor News)
  • Local filmmaker's movie about her father nominated for award (The Ann Arbor News)
  • Review: Time Dances On (Erie Gay News)​

Speaking
  • Zonta North-American Inter-District Meeting | keynote address | McClean, VA  | June 3, 2017
  • TEDxUofM | Ann Arbor, MI  | February 8, 2017
  • UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CENTER FOR THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN | Little Stones Test-Screening and Q&A | 2016 CEW Christobel K. Weerasinghe Keynote Speaker | Ann Arbor, MI | October 5, 2016
  • MARYGROVE COLLEGE | guest speaker | Detroit, MI  | October 4, 2015
  • UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN | Global Scholars Program guest speaker | Ann Arbor, MI  | September 30 & October 3, 2016
  • FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY | Ferris Media Festival speaker | Big Rapids, MI  | April 14 & 15, 2016
  • UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN | guest lecturer | Ann Arbor, MI  | October 28 & November 6, 2015
  • CHANGING HERSTORY  | keynote address | Shelby Township, MI  | October 26, 2015
  • HUMAN TRAFFICKING: A CLOSER LOOK  | guest speaker | Dearborn, MI  | October 15, 2015
  • iZOSH  | keynote address | Ann Arbor, MI  | March 20, 2015
  • ALBION COLLEGE  | Anna Howard Shaw Keynote Address | Albion, MI  | March 18, 2015
  • THE COLORS OF ZONTA  | keynote address | Gaylord,MI  | October 19, 2014

Credits
  • LITTLE STONES | director/producer | independent (distribution TBD) | 2017
  • RIDE THE TIGER  | producer | National PBS | 2016
  • BEYOND THE LIGHT SWITCH, HOUR 3  | producer | National PBS | 2015
  • PBS NEWSHOUR "How drones could limit fertilizer flow into Lake Erie"  | producer | National PBS | 2014
  • PBS NEWSHOUR "Graffiti artists take to the streets of Brazil to combat violence against women"  | special correspondent | National PBS | 2014
  • GREAT LAKES NOW  | producer | Detroit Public TV  | 2013-2014
  • A SPACE FOR MUSIC, A SEAT FOR EVERYONE  | director/producer | Michigan PBS affiliates  | 2013
  • RED METAL: THE COPPER COUNTRY STRIKE OF 1913  | post-producer  | National PBS  | 2013
  • GO FAR: THE CHRISTOPHER RUSH STORY  | cinematographer  | 2013
  • TIME DANCES ON  | director/producer  | 2011
Sophia's work has been supported by:
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
✕