DOCUMENTARIES

Directed, produced, and wrote the Emmy-nominated American Masters documentary EVERY ACT OF LIFE, about playwright and LGBTQ rights pioneer Terrence McNally, EVERY ACT OF LIFE. The film features F. Murray Abraham, Lynn Ahrens, Jon Robin Baitz, Christine Baranski, Bryan Cranston, Tyne Daly, Edie Falco, Stephen Flaherty, John Glover, Anthony Heald, John Benjamin Hickey, John Kander, Larry Kramer, Nathan Lane, Angela Lansbury, Joe Mantello, Audra McDonald, Rita Moreno, Billy Porter, Chita Rivera, John Slattery, Meryl Streep, Richard Thomas, and Patrick Wilson.

 “Jeff Kaufman's briskly entertaining film will be met with heartfelt applause.” - THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

 “Touching, insightful and moving . . . like most great documentaries, it leaves you hoping for more.” - NEWSWEEK

Directed, produced, and wrote the Critics’ Choice-nominated documentary NASRIN (narrated by Olivia Colman), about Iranian human rights activist and political prisoner Nasrin Sotoudeh. Screened in over 60 countries, at The United Nations, and the European Parliament. Streamed / broadcast on Hulu, BBC Persian, Iran Wire, and DW, etc. Features filmmaker Jafar Panahi, journalist Ann Curry, among others.

“In depicting one woman’s fight for justice, Kaufman’s indelible documentary becomes an empowering three-dimensional story of resistance and courage.” - RogerEbert.com

“Riveting . . . A profile In courage for the 21st Century” - Newsweek

Directed, produced, wrote, and cinematography for the documentary THE SAVOY KING: CHICK WEBB AND THE MUSIC THAT CHANGED AMERICA, featuring COREY HAWKINS voicing the words of Chick Webb, JANET JACKSON as Ella Fitzgerald, JOHN LEGEND as Duke Ellington, BILL CRYSTAL as Mezz Mezzrow, TYNE DALY as Helen Oakley Dance, ANDY GARCIA as Mario Bauzá, RON PERLMAN as Gene Krupa, EUGENE ROBINSON as Teddy McRae, DANNY GLOVER as Count Basie, BILLY PORTER as Dizzy Gillespie, KEITH DAVID as Charles Buchanan, Rolling Stones drummer CHARLIE WATTS as Stanley Dance, and narration by ROCKY CARROLL of NCIS. The film presents newly filmed interviews (plus some singing and dancng) with drummers Louie Bellson (with his last filmed drum performance) and Roy Haynes (with a scat version of A-Tisket, A-Tasket), Swing dance masters Frankie Manning and Norma Miller, trumpeter Joe Wilder, playwright-actress Gertrude Jeannette, Harlem Rens basketball star John Isaacs, Ella's son Ray Brown, Jr., and composer / arranger Van Alexander ("A Tisket, A Tasket").

Directed, produced, and wrote THE STATE OF MARRIAGE, about the unsung women who launched the marriage equality movement, with Rep. John Lewis, Mary Bonauto, Beth Robinson, Terrence McNally, and others.

“The State of Marriage is an indispensable addition to the history of the marriage equality movement and a suspenseful nail-biter right up to the feel-good ending.”

- The Hollywood Reporter

Edited and Designed a book based on the documentary EVERY ACT OF LIFE, with an introduction by Tony and Olivier-Award winner Matthew Lopez.

“EVERY ACT OF LIFE is a beautiful film, and this book, expands on it in many revelatory ways. It’s a must read for anyone who loves the theatre, cares about the struggle for LGBTQ rights, and enjoys a good love story.” - Actress, Comedian Lily Tomlin 

“I absolutely adored EVERY ACT OF LIFE. I never really quite understood before what it was to have a hero, but the documentary and the book made me realize Terrence McNally is mine. Not just as the unmistakable, always prescient, deceptively simple but piercing to the very core of humanity playwright, but offstage too: this is a man who has been utterly himself when others feared to even say they knew him. Out and proud doesn’t even begin to describe him or the good he has done for us all. His spirit has soared across decades of the American cultural scene like a beacon of hope, provocation and aspiration.” - actor, singer, writer Alan Cumming

“EVERY ACT OF LIFE is an extraordinary examination of an extraordinary artist. At turns thrilling, funny, complex, and surprising. Both the film and this book are a wonderful tribute to a writer whose oeuvre proves to be much like the man himself: fascinating, brilliant, generous, uncompromising and soulful.” -  Tony winning playwright Stephen Karam (“The Humans”)