Alexandra Shiva

Alexandra Shiva
Alexandra Shiva at the 75 Peabody Awards
Born
Alexandra Elizabeth Shiva

New York City, New York, U.S.
OccupationFilm director
SpouseJonathan Marc Sherman
Children2
Parent(s)Susan Shiva
Gil Shiva
RelativesJules C. Stein (grandfather)

Alexandra Elizabeth Shiva is an American film director. Bombay Eunuch is her 2001 award-winning documentary. Her 2015 documentary, How to Dance in Ohio screened at the Sundance Film Festival in the US Documentary Competition[1] and won a Peabody Award in 2016[2]. It was adapted into a musical of the same name which made its Broadway debut in 2023. Shiva also founded the production studio Gidalya Pictures.

Personal life

Shiva was born in New York City, the daughter of Susan (née Stein) and Gil Shiva. Her grandfather was Jules C. Stein, founder of MCA, the film, television, and record company. She graduated Vassar College in 1995 with her B.A. in Art History.[3] In 2003, Shiva married writer Jonathan Marc Sherman.[4] They have two children.

Career

Shiva's first directed documentary film, Bombay Eunuch (2001), was co-directed with Sean MacDonald and Michelle Gucovsky. The film was released by Shiva's production company Gidalya Pictures.[5] It examined the decline in the traditional status of eunuchs in India focusing on one family. Meena, the leader of the family Shiva follows around, allowed the filmmakers into the private world of hijras in hopes of improving the stigma around hijras.[5] Shiva accomplished gaining access to the private world of hijras, which has traditionally been inaccessible to journalists.[5] Thus allowing for a glimpse of a secretive, invisible world. The New Yorker commended the film for dignifying these outcasts and never condescending them.[6]

In 2006, Shiva directed her second documentary film Stagedoor. The film is about the Stagedoor Manor, a premier summer theatre camp for children ages 8 – 18.[7] The film follows extroverted, budding young actors at Stagedoor Manor, where her husband also attended as a boy.

Shiva continued to explore the theme of people who feel they don't belong but find communities where they do, with her third film How to Dance in Ohio (2015). The documentary takes place in Columbus, Ohio, following the story of three teenage girls with autism preparing to go to the prom.[8] It shows the courage of people facing their fears and entering the adult world.[9] This was Shiva's first film she created after her children were born.[10] She intended to make it in NYC, but her research led her to Ohio where she discovered Emilio Amigo, a psychologist working with autistic children.[10]

The US TV rights for How to Dance in Ohio were acquired by HBO Documentary Films.[11] The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and appeared on HBO later that year. It won a Peabody Award in 2016.[2] Hal Prince announced plans to adapt the film into a musical along with composers Jacob Yandura and Rebekah Greer Melocik and playwright Bess Wohl in 2018.[12] After Prince died in 2019, Sammi Cannold took over as the show's director.[13][14] The musical premiered at Syracuse Stage on September 21, 2022 and ran until October 9, 2022.[15] In July 2023, it was announced that the musical would transfer to Broadway later that year.[13] Previews began on November 15, 2023, and the show officially opened on December 10, 2023, at the Belasco Theatre, with Paula Abdul and Ludacris joining the producing team led by P3 Productions and entertainment mini-studio Level Forward.[16][17] On January 21, 2024, it was announced the show would close on February 11 after 27 previews and 72 performances.[18][14]

In 2018, Shiva directed This is Home: A Refugee Story, an intimate portrait of four Syrian refugee families arriving in America and struggling to find their footing. The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award.[19] It was also awarded the 2019 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award[20] and was acquired by Epix.

For her fifth film, Shiva directed Each and Every Day (2021) for MTV Documentary Films. The documentary is an exploration of youth mental health through the eyes of young people who have attempted suicide or have struggled with suicidal thoughts. It premiered on MTV.[21]

In 2024, Shiva co-directed and produced alongside Lindsey Megrue, One South: Portrait of a Psych Unit revolving around patients and staff at Zucker Hillside Hospital for HBO.[22]

Filmography

Director and Producer

Year Title Notes Ref.
2001 Bombay Eunuch codirected with Sean MacDonald and Michelle Gucovsky
2006 Stagedoor
2015 How to Dance in Ohio 2016 Peabody winner
2018 This Is Home: A Refugee Story
2021 Each and Every Day
2024 One South: Portrait of a Psych Unit

References

  1. ^ "Press Sundance Institute." Sundance Institute. Accessed April 6, 2015. http://press.sundance.org/press?letter=h&page=2 Archived 2014-01-21 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ^ a b "How to Dance in Ohio". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  3. ^ "Gidalya Pictures". Gidalya Pictures. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  4. ^ "WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Alexandra Shiva, Jonathan Sherman". The New York Times. 2003-05-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  5. ^ a b c Holden, Stephen (2001-11-16). "FILM REVIEW; Out of the Rajah's Court to Plague-Ridden Streets". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-08-26. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  6. ^ Diones, Bruce. "The New Yorker: Bombay Eunuch." Gidalya Pictures. Last modified November 19, 2001. Accessed April 6, 2015. http://gidalyapictures.com/bombayeunuch-nyer.html Archived 2014-11-19 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ^ "Stagedoor". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  8. ^ "The Wall Street Journal - Breaking News, Business, Financial & Economic News, World News and Video". WSJ. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  9. ^ "How-to-dance-in-ohio".
  10. ^ a b "My First Feature Film Since My Children were Born". Filmmaker Magazine. 2015-01-25. Archived from the original on 2025-03-26. Retrieved 2015-04-06.
  11. ^ Hipes, Patrick (2015-01-14). "Sundance Pic 'How To Dance In Ohio' Shuffles To HBO". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  12. ^ Fierberg, Ruthie (January 29, 2018). "Harold Prince at Work on 2 New Shows, Including a How to Dance in Ohio Musical". Playbill. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  13. ^ a b Paulson, Michael (2023-07-20). "'How to Dance in Ohio,' a Musical, Plans a Fall Broadway Opening". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2025-07-10. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
  14. ^ a b Russo, Gillian (2024-01-21). "'How to Dance in Ohio' to close on Broadway". New York Theatre Guide. Archived from the original on 2025-05-18. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
  15. ^ "HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO". Syracuse Stage. Archived from the original on June 18, 2025. Retrieved April 27, 2026.
  16. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (July 20, 2023). "How to Dance in Ohio Sets Fall Broadway Bow".
  17. ^ Ludacris and Paula Abdul Join HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO PRODUCING TEAM|Broadway World
  18. ^ Masseron, Meg; Hall, Margaret (January 21, 2024). "Broadway's How to Dance in Ohio Announces Closing". Playbill. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  19. ^ "audience-award-world-cinema-documentary-winner-tba". www.sundance.org. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  20. ^ "2019 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award Winners Announced | Columbia Journalism School". journalism.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-03-28. Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  21. ^ "MTV Doc Films slates mental health doc from Alexandra Shiva, EP Sheila Nevins". Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  22. ^ "HBO Original Two-Part Documentary ONE SOUTH: PORTRAIT OF A PSYCH UNIT Debuts June 25". Warner Bros. Discovery. June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.

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