Director Portfolio
Explore films by Hansen Bursic

Trans Heaven, Pennsylvania
Coming Soon | Status: In Post-Production

Jenny Jae
Coming Soon | Status: In Production

Halloween 1987
2022

The Toothmans
2018

The Pennsylvania Values Campaign
2020

Ari Bowman
2018
Hansen Bursic
Hansen Bursic is a Pittsburgh-born, award-winning filmmaker and journalist based in Los Angeles. Building on the legacy of queer and trans creators before him, he has dedicated his work to not only elevating LGBTQ+ narratives through documentary but bringing radical equity to the film industry.
AWARDS
Bursic was recently named one of Temple University’s 30 Under 30 for his breakout early career acheivement. He was awarded several honors for his filmmaking including an Outstanding Writing/Directing Award from the Freese Foundation for his film “Halloween 1987″ and the Relationship First Award from the Foundation for The Contemporary Family for his film “The Toothmans.” He also received a Golden Quil Award from the Western Pennsylvania Press Club for his journalism around Pride.
AFFILIATIONS
Bursic has worked for multiple leading media and advocacy organization including Outfest, which runs the largest LGBTQ+ film festival in the world, the International Documentary Association, and on Pennsylvania Values, a campaign to add sexuality, gender identity, and expression protections to the state constitution. Bursic is a fellow of the prestigious Ford Foundation-backed Rockwood Documentary Leaders Fellowship and was selected for Traverse32’s inagural Creative Hope Incubator Program. He also serves on the board of NLGJA’s Los Angles chapter and is a member of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ+ Entertaiment Critics.
Latest Writing and Press
From bylines to press coverage, read new content by and about Hansen.

How the Small Town of New Hope, PA Transformed Five LGBTQ+ Filmmakers
While a lot of these filmmakers learned during the documentary process, for Hansen Bursic, it took completing production for him to look back on how momentous his work had become.[…]
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Going Behind the Scenes With LGBTQ+ Filmmakers Uncovering Queer Stories in New Hope, Pennsylvania
Filmmaker Hansen Bursic came to New Hope hoping to find out more about the history of their iconic gay bar, The Raven. His short documentary, Trans Heaven, Pennsylvania, explores the untold[…]
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Magic, Memory, and Making Time For Elders: Filmmaker Rea Tajiri on Wisdom Gone Wild
When Philly-based filmmaker Rea Tajiri set out to make a film about her mother who was diagnosed with dementia, she couldn’t have imagined the decade-long journey she would be undertaking,[…]
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