Lior Geller () is an Emmy Award nominated Israeli-American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, cinematographer, composer, and Guinness World Record holder, best known for writing, directing and producing the feature film The World Will Tremble which tells the true story of the first escape from the first Nazi death camp during World War II.
Early life and education Lior Geller grew up in Highland Park, New Jersey and Ramat Gan, Israel. He studied film at the Steve Tisch School of Film and Television at Tel Aviv University.
Career Geller started his film career editing movie trailers and writing, directing and producing several short films, including the multiple award winning short film "Roads" which was nominated for a Student Academy Award and currently sets the Guinness World Record for Most Awards Won by a Short Student Film.
In 2008, Geller wrote and directed an Emmy nominated documentary which premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, won multiple awards, was sold to PBS in the United States where it played on its Wide Angle series in 2009, earning Geller an Emmy nomination.
Following the success of "Roads", Geller was brought to Hollywood where he sold his first feature screenplay "Alone in Damascus" to Eric Eisner’s Double E Pictures. After the sale of "Alone in Damascus", Geller went on to sell multiple screenplays as a screenwriter and direct several unscripted television series.
Geller's feature film debut, We Die Young, premiered at the 2019 Mammoth Film Festival on February 7, 2019, in Mammoth Lakes, CA as the festival’s opening night gala film. Prior to the screening, the film was preemptively purchased by Lionsgate Films for distribution in the United States. Lionsgate released the film on March 1, 2019 to critical acclaim with particular praise for Geller’s direction and the performance of lead actor Jean-Claude Van Damme.
His second film, The World Will Tremble, had its world premiere at the Miami Jewish Film Festival in Miami, Florida, on 16 January 2025 and was released in US theaters March 14, 2025 by Vertical. The film holds a 93% rating on review aggregator website site Rotten Tomatoes, has been called "Astonishing... the first great film of 2025" by film critic Keith Arlington, and has become an international streaming sensation reaching the global Netflix top ten and securing the number one spot in multiple countries.
Awards and nominations Since 2007 Geller has received numerous awards and nominations setting a Guinness World Record for Most Awards Won by a Short Student Film for "Roads".
Year Festival Award Title Result2007 Aubagne International Film Festival Special Mention Roads Beijing College Student Film Festival Jury Award Euromed Cafe FondazioneMediterraneo Inspiration Award Jerusalem Film Festival Wolgin Award for Best Short Film Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival Youth Audience Award Short Film Grand Prize 2008 Festival Inventa Un Film, Italy Third Prize Best Editing Best Soundtrack CILECT International Association of Film Schools Best Film Cinerail Film Festival, Paris Georges Ragot Prize Circuito Off Venice International Short Film Festival RTP2 Award Special Mention Israel Film Festival Audience Award Encounters International Film Festival International Jury Award Expresion en Corto International Film Festival Best Fiction Short Film FIKE - Évora International Short Film Festival Best Film International Festival of Film Schools, Mexico Best Film Kraków Film Festival Best European Short Film Larissa Mediterranean Festival of New Filmmakers Special Jury Mention London Film Festival Prix UIP London (European Short Film) Nashville Jewish Film Festival (NJFF) Student Film Competition Oberhausen International Short Film Festival Grand Prize Odense International Film Festival Grand Prix Potsdam Sehsüchte Best Fiction San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Best Short Film Student Academy Awards, USA Honorary Foreign Film Award – Best Foreign Film São Paulo International Short Film Festival MostraInternacionale– Best Film Taipei Film Festival Golden Lion International Student Film Competition Tampere International Short Film Festival Grand Prix Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival Best International Short Tribeca Film Festival Student Visionary Award U Frame International Academic Film Festival Jury First Prize Dubai International Film Festival People’s Choice AwardThe Heart of Jenin Leipzig DOK Festival Best Documentary Valladolid International Film Festival Best Documentary Warsaw International Film Festival Best Documentary Warsaw Jewish Film Festival Special Mention Best Documentary Feature Best Fiction Short Roads 2009Flickerfest International Short Film Festival Best Film Cinema for Peace Awards Most Valuable Documentary of the YearsThe Heart of Jenin European Film Awards European Documentary The Hague Movies that Matter Festival Audience Award AllRights Award San Diego Jewish Film Festival Audience Award Roads Utah Arts Festival (Fear No Film) Audience Award Washington Jewish Film Festival Audience Award 2010 International Documentary Association IDA AwardThe Heart of Jenin News & Documentary Emmy Awards Emmy 2011 Nuremberg Film Festival "Turkey-Germany" Ongoren Prize 2019Mammoth Film FestivalAudience AwardWe Die Young Best Feature Grand Jury Award Best Screenplay
Filmography Lior Geller has a catalogue of films and documentaries he produced, wrote and directed. The table below chronicles his filmography.
Year Title Role Notes 2005 At the Green Line Cinematographer Documentary 2007 Roads Director, Producer and Writer Short 2008 The Heart of Jenin Director, Writer Documentary (as Leon Geller) 2009 Wide Angle Director, Writer TV series documentary (1 episode) 2010 Target: Happiness Director TV series (6 episodes) 2016 Hatched Director TV series (6 episodes) 2017 H1Z1: Fight for the Crown Director, Editor, Musician (guitar) TV mini-series 2019 We Die Young Director, Writer, Editor Feature Film 2025 The World Will Tremble Director, Producer, Writer, Editor Feature Film
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