Naja Newell

Documentary Filmmaker | Associate Producer

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Work.

The Lake (2026)^{Director: Abby Ellis
Producers: Fletcher Keyes
Associate Producer: Naja Newell}

An environmental nuclear bomb looms in Utah. Two intrepid scientists and a political insider race the clock to save their home from unprecedented catastrophe. Balancing the perspectives, burdens, contributions, and challenges of Utah’s top political leaders, agricultural providers, and scientific thinkers, The Lake captures the intricate complexity around power and responsibility that binds these communities together.

_{Sundance Film Festival (World Premiere, US Documentary Special Jury Award: Impact for Change, 2026) | Full Frame | DC/DOX | Cleveland International}

Daughters of the Forest: The Mycelium Chronicles (2026)^{Director: Otilia Portillo
Producers: Paula Arroio, Elena Fortes & Otilia Portillo
Associate Producer: Naja Newell}

Science fiction meets ancient practices deep in Mexico's mushroom-rich forests, where two female mycologists from the country's indigenous peoples seek to unite past and present across life forms.

_{CPH:DOX | SXSW | Margret Mead | San Francisco Film Festival}

André Is An Idiot (2025)^{Director: Tony Benna
Producers: Tory Tunnell, Stelio Kitrilakis, Joshua Altman, and Ben Cotner
Associate Producer: Naja Newell}

André, a brilliant idiot, is dying because he didn't get a colonoscopy. His sobering diagnosis, complete irreverence, and insatiable curiosity send him on an unexpected journey learning how to die happily and ridiculously without losing his sense of humor.

_{Sundance Film Festival (Audience Award for U.S. Documentary) | Sheffield DocFest | Nantucket Film Festival}

How Deep Is Your Love (2025)^{Director: Eleanor Mortimer
Producer: Jacob Thomas
Associate Producer: Naja Newell}

The deep sea is the last unknown territory on Earth. Here, biologists struggle to study the enigmatic wildlife that looks like something from another planet. But time is running out as deep-sea mining threatens the fragile ecosystems.

_{True/False | CPH:DOX | DC/DOX | Docville Film Festival | SFFILM Festival | International Wildlife Film Festival | Sydney Film Festival | Hot Docs}

Underland (2025)^{Director: Rob Petit
Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel, Lauren Greenwood, and Jessica Harrop
Associate Producer: Naja Newell}

To most, it is a place of only fear and darkness, though to a brave few, it is one of knowledge and wonder to be found nowhere else. Based on the bestselling book by Robert Macfarlane, UNDERLAND voyages into worlds rarely glimpsed by human eyes.

_{Tribeca Film Festival | DC/DOX | CPH:DOX}

Elemental Series (2025)^{Directors: Zhao Liang (Carbon), Todd Chandler (Cesium), Terra Long (Zinc)
Producers: Heidi Fleisher, Mike Paterson
Associate Producer: Naja Newell}

A collection of short documentary films exploring how elements of the periodic table shape human life, often focusing on environmental impact and sustainability.

Additional Work.

NO MEAN CITY – Associate Producer.
^{Vision du Reel, Sheffield Film Festival (2025)}A THOUSAND WORDS – Director.
^{Nominated Best Documentary CUNY Film Festival (2019)}CONQUER ALL – Director. Producer.
^{Best Narrative Award Tribeca Film Festival (Our City, My Story, 2013)}
Produced as part of the Executive Production team at Sandbox Films
FIRE OF LOVE
^{Oscar Nominee for Best Documentary (2023) | Sundance Film Festival (2022: Won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award)}
CONFESSIONS OF A GOOD SAMARITAN
^{SXSW (2023) | Hot Docs (2023) | Sheffield International Documentary Festival (2023)}
THE ARC OF OBLIVION
^{SXSW (2023) | CPH:DOX (2023)}
NOCTURNES
^{Sundance Film Festival (2024: Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Craft) | CPH:DOX (2024) | Sheffield International Documentary Festival (2024) | DOC NYC (2024)}

About.

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Naja Newell is a Documentary Filmmaker and Producer whose work centers the emotional ties between humans and the natural world. She is drawn to stories that hold moral complexity and environmental tension through intimate, visually poetic narratives.

Her credits include The Lake (US Documentary Special Jury Award: Impact for Change, Sundance Film Festival 2026) executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Andre Is an Idiot (Audience Award, Sundance Film Festival 2025) co-produced with A24, How Deep Is Your Love (2025), A Life Illuminated (2025), and Underland (2025) produced by Darren Aronofsky, as well as the short-documentary series, Elemental (2025), with The New York Times.

Her approach is rooted in ethical collaboration, narrative architecture, and emotional nuance. She is currently developing and directing documentary projects exploring community, language, and cultural memory.

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