Sasha Friedlander

Based in both Brooklyn, New York, and Berkeley, California, Sasha Friedlander is a filmmaker with a particular interest in Indonesia. After attending undergraduate studies at UCLA, Sasha received a Darmasiswa Fellowship to study at the Indonesian Art Institute in Bali. During her time in Indonesia, she interned at Bali TV and worked with a team of journalists from the BBC and the Bali Post to launch the first edition of the International Bali Post. In 2009, she took a brief trip to Kawah Ijen crater in East Java, which would become the inspiration for her first documentary film, Where Heaven Meets Hell. The Alliance of Women Film Journalists awarded Sasha an EDA Award for Documentary Artistry in March 2013. Friedlander parterend with award-winning director Cynthia Wade to make Grit (Mountainfilm 2019), which premiered at Hot Docs in 2018.