Constance Marks (Producer, Director) is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker. She is the founder and president of Constance Marks Productions, Inc., a documentary production company based in New York City. Marks began her filmmaking career over 35 years ago as an assistant editor for the renowned Cinema Verite pioneers, David and Albert Maysles. Marks’ critically acclaimed films have been shown theatrically, broadcast widely, and garnered numerous awards.

Her productions include: BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY which won the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and has been exhibited worldwide to critical acclaim, GREEN CHIMNEYS — a full-length documentary feature film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO. Marks has produced numerous films focusing on important social issues including homelessness, the elderly, experimental charter schools, teen pregnancy and substance abuse recovery residences.

Her new documentary, GRANDPA WAS AN EMPEROR, is an intimate story of survival, loyalty and forgiveness as told by Yeshi Kassa, a great-granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. In 1974, while Yeshi and her sister were attending boarding school in the UK, her great-grandfather was deposed by a revolution, thus ending a 3000-year dynasty. Not wanting to re-traumatize each other, they have neither looked back nor discussed this with anyone, even each other, until now.