Sascha Just is a New York-based filmmaker, born and raised in Berlin. She emigrated to the US to make films about jazz and jazz-related topics and now splits her time between New York and Berlin.
Prior to ELLIS, Sascha produced and directed HEIRS, a feature-length documentary about three New Orleans artists, the short documentary BIG CHIEF about New Orleans Black Indian Chief Darryl Montanta's path to Mardi Gras, and the short documentary AMBASSADORS about a competition for the title Jazz Ambassadors to the US.
Sascha's films screened among other at DOC NYC, the Krakow International Film Festival, the American Documentary Film Festival, RiverRun International Film Festival, USA Film Festival, Katra Film Series, The Segal Film Festival, and the International Institute "Interweaving Performance Cultures". AMBASSADORS is part of the permanent collection of the Rancho Mirage Public Library and was finalist for best short documentary at the Queens World Film Festival, 2014.
For her work on the Freytag Collection, a film archive of New Orleans performers and performance traditions, the United States Government granted Sascha the rare national interest-based permanent resident status.
Sascha holds a BA in Film, an MA /PhD in Theater and Film tudies from the City University of New York (CUNY). She teaches in the Communications Department of Baruch College, CUNY.