Sam Eilertsen
- Director
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Sam Ellertsen is a Providence, Rhode Island-based filmmaker. He worked for a decade as a director of photography on narrative films, shooting features such as the 2019 heist film Vault (Chazz Palminteri, Don Johnson, Theo Rossi, Samira Wiley), while looking for a way to channel his concern for the climate crisis and passion for activism into film projects.
In 2018 he co-founded Tikkun Olam Productions, a nonprofit filmmaking collective. His debut documentary Israelism, which explores American Jewish young people's shifting relationship to Israel and Palestine, premiered at Big Sky Doc Fest in 2023 and won prizes at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the Arizona International Film Festival, and the Tallgrass Film Festival. It became a phenomenon on college campuses and across social media, while also drawing repeated attempts at censorship-controversies that have been covered in major outlets like The New York Times. After being acquired by Watermelon Pictures the film debuted as the number one documentary on AppleTV video-on-demand. His second feature, Generation on Fire, follows youth climate activists, and he is a co-creator and co-director of the documentary series Vs Goliath, which follows everyday Americans resisting fossil fuel extraction in their hometowns, and premiered at Seriesfest in 2025, winning the Jury and Audience awards for Best Independent Pilot.
His activist video work supporting and documenting movements for change has been featured on MSNBC, NowThis and Democracy Now, covered in the New York Times, and even deceptively re-edited by Fox News.
In 2018 he co-founded Tikkun Olam Productions, a nonprofit filmmaking collective. His debut documentary Israelism, which explores American Jewish young people's shifting relationship to Israel and Palestine, premiered at Big Sky Doc Fest in 2023 and won prizes at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the Arizona International Film Festival, and the Tallgrass Film Festival. It became a phenomenon on college campuses and across social media, while also drawing repeated attempts at censorship-controversies that have been covered in major outlets like The New York Times. After being acquired by Watermelon Pictures the film debuted as the number one documentary on AppleTV video-on-demand. His second feature, Generation on Fire, follows youth climate activists, and he is a co-creator and co-director of the documentary series Vs Goliath, which follows everyday Americans resisting fossil fuel extraction in their hometowns, and premiered at Seriesfest in 2025, winning the Jury and Audience awards for Best Independent Pilot.
His activist video work supporting and documenting movements for change has been featured on MSNBC, NowThis and Democracy Now, covered in the New York Times, and even deceptively re-edited by Fox News.
