jamil.mcginnis@gmail.com | @jamiltmcginnis

Jamil (b. 1993) is a filmmaker and artist whose work explores memory, diaspora, and the ephemerality of home bridging the language in-between scripted and non-scripted work. His 2020 short, Gramercy, won the Grand Prix at Clermont Ferrand and screened at Locarno Film Festival, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), BFI, Telluride, Goethe Institute and premiered online with Le Cinema Club. His latest 2022 short, as time passes, premiered at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, New York Film Festival, MoMA PS1’s “Open House” and BAM Film’s 2024 slate. Under the moniker of Seneca Village Pictures, Jamil and filmmaking partner, Pat Heywood, are currently in production for their first hybrid feature and installation, Waking Up In a Dream, with the support of Rooftop Films Filmmakers Grant, Hampton Screenwriting Lab and Gotham Week’s Project Market.

Jamil is in development with Wahnish Keeps Me Free which received Rooftop Films Filmmakers Arri Grant and Blackstar Pitch Grant, a film centered around the memory and marching band of his alma mater, Florida A&M University. Jamil co-founded a publishing house called KNOW Publishing, printing his second project All Paths Lead Home. Jamil was raised in between Türkiye, Germany and the USA. He currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

SELECT SCREENINGS / FESTIVALS

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Museum of Modern Art PS1 (MoMA PS1) w/ SHASHA Movies
Locarno Film Fest
Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival
Cannes’ Directors Fortnight
Film at Lincoln Center
Brooklyn Arts & Music (BAM) Film’s Slate w/ Alfreda’s Cinema
New York Film Festival
Walker Arts Center
Telluride
BFI
Group Show, Curator. Weeksville Heritage Museum, Brooklyn NY
Chelsea Contemporary Art Group Show. Agora Gallery, NY

AWARDS

Blackstar Pitch Awardee, 2025
Rooftop Filmmakers Grant Arri Camera Fund, 2024
Rooftop Filmmakers Grant TCS Camera Fund, 2021
Labo Competition Grand Prix, Gramercy - Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival
Special Mention, as time passes - Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival
Vimeo Staff Pick: Best of the Month
Silver Hugo, Gramercy - Chicago Int’l Film Festival

PRESS

RISD Guest Speaker for film class Time Light & Sound.

Le Cinema Club

Indie Wire (Rooftop Films Filmmakers Fund, 2024)

Filmmaker Mag (Rockaway Film Festival Installation)

Variety (Rooftop Films Filmmakers Fund, 2021)

Variety (Don’t miss Locarno’s Shorts)

BAM - “Most Powerful, a message to the Black man”

EDUCATION

BSc in Finance
SBI, Florida A&M University, 2015

EXPERIENCE

KNOW Publishing / Co-founder
2020 - Current

Seneca Village / Director, Co-founder
2019 - Current

Spotify / Senior Producer
2025 - Current

The SpringHill Company - Robot / Senior Producer
2024 - 2025

Spotify / Senior Producer
2022 - 2023

EA Sports, Madden & FIFA / Producer
2020 - 2021

Droga5 / Producer
2015 - 2017

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