In 1976, after making a six-month trip through North and West Africa, Su Friedrich moved to New York to pursue her work in photography, both as a photojournalist and an art photographer. In 1977, she attended a super 8 filmmaking course taught by David Lee at the Millennium Film Workshop. It only ran for three nights, and this turned out to be the extent of her formal filmmaking education, but the Millennium was a hub for low budget, experimental filmmakers, and a place to learn the craft from other, more experienced filmmakers. The next year, she sold her darkroom equipment and began working in super 8, and then in 16mm and in 2004 she transitioned into digital video.
Friedrich has made twenty-four films and videos which range in length from 2 to 113 minutes. She is the writer, director, cinematographer, editor and sound editor of all her films except for Hide and Seek, which was shot by Jim Denault, and on numerous films, Cathy Nan Quinlan was a co-writer and major contributing editor.
The films have been featured in twenty-six retrospectives at museums and film festivals and have been widely screened, extensively written about, are in many university and museum collections, and have won numerous grants and awards. In 2015, Sink or Swim was one of the 25 films chosen by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry.
Her DVD collection is distributed by Outcast Films and her two most recent films are distributed by Icarus Films.
To support herself, Friedrich worked for many years doing book and magazine production in the old school way–with paper, glue and Exacto knives. When computers took that over (and paid less for the labor) she began teaching at various schools, including The New School and NYU. Since 1998, Friedrich has been Professor of Visual Art in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University where she teaches film and video production.
For a more extensive biography, a complete filmography, and a lot of photos:
On the CV page, you can find 4 versions, from a tiny one to a very long one.
On this page, you can find photos of Friedrich and photos taken during filming and editing.
Recent news about books, a few projects, and an artist’s talk:
Su Friedrich: Conversaciones con Scott MacDonald, Punto de Vista + Caniche Press, 127pp, color and b&w photos, 2024
Su Friedrich by Barbara Mennel. A volume in the series Contemporary Film Directors, edited by Justus Nieland and Jennifer Fay, University of Illinois Press, 192 pp., 21 b&w photographs, 2023.
Cinexpérimentaux 12: Visite à Su Friedrich (Visit with Su Friedrich), directed by Frédérique Devaux and Michel Amarger, with cinematography by Frédéric Tabet, 86 minutes, 2018-21. Released in 2023.
Su Friedrich: Interviews, edited by Sonia Misra and Rox Samer. A volume in the Conversations with Filmmakers Series, University Press of Mississippi, 165pp., 2022
How to Drag Your Private Life, Kicking and Screaming, Into the Public: Looking Back at Forty-One Years of Filmmaking – a lecture at the Universität für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria, October 22, 2019. I talk about almost all my films–first with a brief explanation about what went into the making of it, followed by a 5 minute clip from the film.
Edited By— A website created in 2018 featuring 206 women editors through text, photographs, posters from sample works, an extensive appendix, and a feature length film. See this page for further info.
William Greaves—The official, comprehensive website about the filmmaker featuring 18 of his films and all known articles, reviews and interviews. Created in 2020.
And see this page on the website for other projects and writings.