Ilie Mitaru

Director & Cinematographer

Throughout 2013, I produced, wrote and often shot for PBS' The Travel Detective with Peter Greenberg. 

The Travel Detective

First Frames follows photographer and Syrian refugee Serbest Salih and his mobile darkroom that brings photography education to overlooked communities across Turkey, where children contend with access to school, memory and displacement from devastating earthquakes.  The documentary unfolds almost completely from the child’s perspective. They speak about their friendships, curiosities and frustrations while engaging with photography for the very first time. The children become collaborators in the documentary, capturing their worlds through their unique filming.  The film embraces the magical nature of children’s thinking and portrays them not as passive participants of their circumstances but as playful, resilient and complex individuals, with their insights and sometimes surprising perspectives.

FIRST FRAMES

A filmmaker ventures into the archives of her photographer mother to construct a personal story of love, loss, and finding someone in the work they leave behind.

A Photographic Memory

A candid, behind-the-scenes ride with rap's hottest artists and legends, to learn what it takes to become great in one of the most competitive businesses in the world: hip hop.

Forbes: Rap Mentors

The story of four American cowboys brought to Russia to help the country restart their national beef industry.

WRANGLING RUSSIA 

I co-directed and shot a documentary short for Verizon and Fox Sports, on the Brazilian fan experience leading up to the World Cup. 

Home Turf

Every year, hundreds of people perish -- from hypothermia, heatstroke and dehydration — attempting to cross the desert spanning the U.S. Mexico border. Rafael Hernandez has made it his life’s work to rescue those in dying on in the border.

Commissioned by NBC's Left Field.