About
Photographer and documentarian Ben Powell’s assignments as a cinematographer have taken him to communities around the world, while his documentary films as a director have focused on landscapes near and dear. His adopted home state of Texas and the obsessive characters (and celebrities) that collect its historical treasures play a central role in “Phil Collins and the Wild Frontier,” which premiered at the 2013 New Orleans Film Festival. His first feature documentary, BARGE, focuses on the culture of towboat workers not far from his home town of Cleveland, Mississippi and premiered at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival, going on to win Best Documentary Feature prizes at Indie Memphis and the Dallas International Film Festival. Powell has received received artist grants from the Austin Film Society and the Garrett Scott Documentary Development Grant, and holds a BFA in Film, Animation, and Video from the Rhode Island School of Design.