Faculty
A blend of full-time faculty and talented visiting artists give the Murray Center its unique blend of expertise to share with students. Two seasoned professionals—one a documentary filmmaker and one a journalist—provide daily instruction that is the foundation of all the students learn. Additionally, visiting artists from documentary and related films make visits to campus to share their expertise with the students individually or in small-group settings.
Past visiting artists have included: Trey Borzillieri (EVIL GENIUS), Rachel Boynton (OUR BRAND IS CRISIS), Garrett Bradley (TIME), Lyric R. Cabral ((T)ERROR), Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan (WHOSE STREETS?), Yance Ford (STRONG ISLAND), Penny Lane (HAIL SATAN?), Spike Lee (WHEN THE LEVEES BREAK), Ursula Liang (DOWN A DARK STAIRWELL), Bing Liu (MINDING THE GAP), David Osit (MAYOR), Sierra Pettengill (GRAVEN IMAGE), Jeff Reichert (AMERICAN FACTORY), RaMell Ross (HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING), Nailah Sims (WHO KILLED MALCOLM X?), Brett Story (THE HOTTEST AUGUST), Sandi Tan (SHIRKERS) and Lana Wilson (MISS AMERICANA)
Full-Time Faculty
Robert Greene is an associate professor and the Filmmaker-in-Chief for the Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the University of Missouri. his latest film PROCESSION will premiere in 2021. Robert’s previous film BISBEE ’17 premiered at Sundance, aired on PBS’s P.O.V. and was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2018 Gotham Awards. His films include the Sundance award winning KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE (2016), the Gotham Awards nominated ACTRESS (2014) and the Gotham Awards nominated KATI WITH AN I (2010). Robert has edited over a dozen features, including HER SMELL (2018), GOLDEN EXITS (2017), QUEEN OF EARTH (2015) and LISTEN UP PHILIP (2014) by Alex Ross Perry, Nick Berardini’s KILLING THEM SAFELY (2015), Amanda Rose Wilder’s award winning APPROACHING THE ELEPHANT (2014) and Charles Poekel’s Spirit Awards-nominated CHRISTMAS, AGAIN. He has served as a Sundance Edit Lab Advisor and was on the U.S. Documentary Jury for Sundance 2017. Robert writes about documentary for outlets such as Sight & Sound and Hyperallergic.
Greene was an inaugural Sundance Art of Nonfiction fellow in 2015 and is a three-time nominee for Best Director at the Cinema Eye Honors. The Independent named Greene one of its 10 Filmmakers to Watch in 2014 and he received the 2014 Vanguard Artist Award from the San Francisco DocFest. His first documentary, OWNING THE WEATHER, was screened at the COP15 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
Robert Greene, Assoc. Professor and Filmmaker-in-Chief
Co-Founder of the Murray Center and Method M Films
Sebastián Martínez Valdivia serves as the supervising producer at the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the University of Missouri. He is an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker, whose previous work has appeared on NPR, Kaiser Health News and PBS. Before joining the Murray Center, he reported for KBIA, covering the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid expansion, and other public health issues.
As an assistant professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, Martínez focuses primarily on teaching production and reporting skills. He teaches the Photojournalism and Documentary Reporting courses, which prepare students for making their capstone films and for working in professional newsrooms.
As a filmmaker, Martínez won the Best International Feature prize at the 2018 BFI Future Film Festival in London. His films focus on exploring a sense of place, with a particular interest in the rural Midwest. His films have screened at festivals across the United States.