Christine Turner is a filmmaker whose portraits of artists, activists and everyday people capture the beauty and struggle of life. Her latest film, Sun Ra: Do the Impossible—a journey through the life and work of the visionary jazz musician, composer and poet known as Sun Ra—had its world premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival.
Previously, Christine directed the 2024 Oscar-nominated short documentary, The Barber of Little Rock (co-directed with John Hoffman), about a local barber's fight for a just economy (The New Yorker). J’Nai Bridges: Unamplified, also released in 2024, follows the acclaimed opera singer as she takes the stage in “A Knee on the Neck” (PBS’ American Masters).
Christine’s feature directorial debut, Homegoings, a verité portrait of a Harlem funeral director, premiered at Documentary Fortnight at MoMA and was broadcast nationally on PBS/POV. Other directing credits include: Lynching Postcards: ‘Token of a Great Day’ (Paramount+), which was nominated for a Peabody and won an NAACP Image Award; Betye Saar: Taking Care of Business (New York Times Op-Docs); and Paint & Pitchfork (The New Yorker) about celebrated artists Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley.
As an episodic director and producer for television, Christine has also collaborated on acclaimed non-fiction series such as The 1619 Project (Hulu), Amend: The Fight for America (Netflix) and Art in the Twenty-First Century (PBS), among others. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Directors Guild of America and serves on the board of the non-profit Art21.