Sophie E. Constantinou
Known For: Camera
Biography
Sophie Constantinou is a film director, cinematographer and producer. Co-founder of Citizen Film, a documentary production nonprofit based in San Francisco, Constantinou creates documentaries at the intersection of storytelling and community engagement. At Citizen Film, Constantinou has worked on the Community Leadership Series (2003-2013), Joann Sfar Draws from Memory (2012), Lunch Love Community (2014), GLIDE’s Values series (2014-2024), and Narrative Shift (2021-2024), primarily as the Director of Photography. Independent of Citizen Film, she worked as Director and Cinematographer on Frameline selection Trans (1994), Between the Lines (1997), which was distributed on the Sundance Channel, and Divided Loyalties (1999). She filmed The Joy of Life (2005) and The Royal Road (2015), both official selections of the Sundance Film Festival in their respective years. She was also the director of photography for PBS documentary Presumed Guilty (2000), PBS/POV film Maquilapolis (2006), and HBO documentary Unchained Memories (2004). She filmed Emmy Award-winning Home Front (2001) and HBO documentary Regarding Susan Sontag (2014). Her work is acclaimed for tackling complex issues with artistry and sensitivity while catalyzing place-based change and creating healthy, sustainable communities. Since 2010, she has worked in San Francisco’s Western Addition on a series of films, engagement initiatives, and education programs bringing attention to the inequities of the neighborhood’s predominantly Black community. These projects include Buchanan Stories / Buchanan Change and Green Streets. She is also the founder of the Bernal Cut Project, a community-led biodiversity initiative to transform 16 acres of inner city open space into a habitat corridor and immersive learning.
Filmography
2021
- Say Their Names ... (Director)
2019
- What We Carry With Us: Refugee Storylabs ... (Cinematography)
2018
- American Creed ... (Cinematography)
2016
- Collaboration: Ron Padgett ... (Producer)
2015
- The Royal Road ... (Director of Photography)
- Flamin’ Hot - Lunch Love Community ... (Co-Producer)
2014
- Regarding Susan Sontag ... (Director of Photography)
2010
- The Whole World in a Small Seed - Lunch Love Community ... (Co-Producer)
- If They Cook It, They Will Eat It - Lunch Love Community ... (Co-Producer)
- The Lunch Love Community Documentary Project ... (Co-Producer)
- But Is It Replicable? - Lunch Love Community ... (Co-Producer)
- The Labor of Lunch - Lunch Love Community ... (Co-Producer)
- The Parent Factor - Lunch Love Community ... (Co-Producer)
- Feeding the Body Politic - Lunch Love Community ... (Co-Producer)
2009
- Race to Nowhere ... (Cinematography)
- Between the Lines ... (Director)
- 575 Castro St. ... (Director of Photography)
2008
- Balancing Acts: A Jewish Theatre in The Soviet Union ... (Cinematography)
- Hats Off ... (Cinematography)
2006
- Maquilapolis ... (Director of Photography)
2005
- Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria ... (Director of Photography)
- The Joy of Life ... (Director of Photography)
2004
- One Wedding and a Revolution ... (Cinematography)
- Monumental: David Brower's Fight for Wild America ... (Director of Photography)
2003
- Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives ... (Director of Photography)
2002
- Hope Along the Wind: The Story of Harry Hay ... (Cinematography)
- Presumed Guilty: Tales of the Public Defenders ... (Director of Photography)
2001
- Divided Loyalties ... (Director of Photography)
1994
- Trans ... (Director)
1991
- Presumed Guilty ... (Director of Photography)