ARI GRIEF discovered his calling in 1993 upon viewing Jean Luc Godard’s Weekend (1968).
From that point on, he submerged himself in the culture of film. Born in Montreal, he was
further convinced to be a filmmaker when he discovered Louis B. Mayer, co-founder and head
of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, in his family tree. While completing a B.A. in English Literature at
McGill University, Grief directed his first short Jimmie’s Got A ‘Goil, screening it at the 1st
Annual McGill University Film Festival. In 1996 he traveled to Toronto to work as a production assistant for Warner Bros. Later that year, he returned to Montreal to enter the Mel
Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University. Studying under Peter Rist and Carole Zucker, he quickly discovered a kinship with maverick filmmakers such as Orson Welles and John Cassavetes. At Concordia Grief wrote, directed and produced his first series of short
films, namely the award-winning documentary Elementary…, a cinema direct-style look at his former elementary school.

After receiving a B.F.A. from Concordia, Grief traveled to Europe and the Middle East before permanently moving to Toronto to pursue a Masters degree in film at York University. There
he directed the short film Open Up while regularly contributing film reviews to the nationwide
                                                 student publication “Afterword.”

> More about Ari Grief

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