Joshua Dylan Mellars, a former journalist in South America, is director and producer of a variety of films screened to acclaim in New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Berlin, Toronto, London, Rome, Monaco, Vancouver, Miami, Montreal, Philadelphia, Houston and Denver.
Mellars’s award winning music documentary trilogy (Tango Illusions, Heaven’s Mirror and Play Like a Lion) has been feted at film festivals throughout the world and screened at prestigious institutions which include: The Indian Embassy in collaboration with the Smithsonian, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the University of Oxford, the Embassy of Portugal in Washington D.C. and Cambridge University. Joshua is a graduate of Brown University.
Mellars’s new production, Emmy nominated Shakespeare in the Shadows, is a mesmerizing, minimalist montage that takes inspiration from the drama, the rhythm and the musicality of Shakespeare’s prosody. The film is a collaboration with classically trained stage actor Mark Cohen, who honed his craft at Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) affiliate Guildhall in London. Shakespeare in the Shadows is currently airing on PBS stations across the United States.
PRESS — CineSource Magazine: “Mellars’s films present passionate musics and beatific visuals,” The Houston Chronicle: “a sensual film, rich and colorful, both visually and aurally,” The Pacific Sun: “If you only see one movie at this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival…watch filmmaker Joshua Dylan Mellars’s new documentary.” The San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post, Univision, CBS San Francisco, Portugal’s Correio da Manhã, Canada’s Omni Television, Portugal’s RTP, NPR affiliate KUSP and KPFA radio have also featured stories on Mellars’s films.
AWARDS — Double “Remi Winner” – 46th Worldfest-Houston, “Audience Award” – Santa Rosa Int’l FF, “Best Screenplay – Feature Documentary” – Washington D.C.’s World Music and Independent Film Fest, ”Special Mention” – Monaco Charity Film Festival, “Best Music Doc” Honorable Mention – New York’s The People’s Film Festival, “Best Cine Latino” – Napa-Sonoma Wine Country Film Festival, “People’s Choice” – Bay Street Film Festival, “People’s Choice” – North Carolina ISAFF. Nominations: “Best Foreign Film” – London’s Portobello Film Festival, “Most Entertaining Documentary” – DocMiami Int’l FF. The SRIFF recognized Mellars’s documentary trilogy with its “Distinguished Cinema Artist Award” — “a masterful filmmaker who blends music, imagery, poetry and narrative….”
Joshua previously worked as a journalist in Caracas, Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro: filing stories for Bridge News, UPI, the BBC and NPR.