Jenny Schweitzer Bell is a filmmaker based in New York City known for her character-driven stories that examine identity, culture, and the human experience. Her recent short docs include ‘Pig Show’ and ‘The Puzzle Palace’, which had its World Premiere at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival.
Her award-winning short films include, ‘The Magic of Chess’ and ‘Girls in Chess’, both were selected for the U.S. State Department’s touring 2020 American Film Showcase featuring award-winning contemporary American documentaries globally. 'The Magic of Chess' received a ‘Best of the Year’ nomination at the 2020 Vimeo Film Awards, and was then incorporated into educational curriculums in multiple elementary school systems nationwide. Jenny’s commissioned films including ‘Flor de Toloache’, ‘Girls in Chess’, ‘The Blessings of Aging’, ‘Satellite Baby’ and ‘Elijah & Jeremiah’ have been featured by The New York Times, The New Yorker, National Geographic, and The Atlantic and have played festivals around the world. Three films have been selected as Vimeo Staff Picks: ‘Flor de Toloache’, ‘The Magic of Chess’, and ‘The Puzzle Palace’.
Jenny also created multiple film series in recent years including a 45-minute film for the Boulder Crest Foundation, a non-profit aiming to transform our nation’s approach to mental health through the science of post-traumatic growth; a 6-part video series accompaniment for Todd Haynes’ film, ‘Wonderstruck' with Amazon Studios; and 'Rhythm in Motion', a 10-part series spotlighting NYC subway musicians for The Atlantic.
Prior to writing/directing and shooting her own documentary films, Jenny produced narrative indie feature films. Her career highlights include producing director Michael Cuesta’s ‘12 & Holding’ (Toronto Film Festival premiere), she was nominated for the Independent Spirit/John Cassavetes Award. She also worked with critically acclaimed filmmakers Sally Potter and Rebecca Miller; line producing Sally’s feature film ‘Rage’ (Berlin International Film Festival premiere, Teddy and Golden Bear Best Feature Film nominee), writer/director Rebecca Miller’s indie feature ‘Personal Velocity’ (Sundance Film Festival premiere, Grand Jury Prize Winner, Independent Spirit/John Cassavetes Award Winner), and also Rebecca’s feature film ‘The Ballad of Jack and Rose’ (Sundance Film Festival premiere, Gotham Awards & NY Film Critics Circle Awards nominee) with IFC Films.