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Teddy Leifer is a British film and television producer.[1] He founded Rise Films in 2006, a London-based production company,[2] and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2023.[3]

He has produced a number of films and television programmes, including The Invisible War, Icarus, the Peabody Award-winning documentary All That Breathes,[4] The Interrupters, Dreamcatcher, We Are Together, Rough Aunties, Mayor, The Art of Political Murder, George Carlin’s American Dream and Plebs.

He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,[5] BAFTA and the Producers Guild of America.

Career

Leifer’s career began in 2006 with We Are Together, a documentary about the orphanage, Agape, in South Africa, which won the Special Jury Prize and Audience Award at Tribeca Film Festival.[6]

He then produced Rough Aunties, his first collaboration with director Kim Longinotto, which won the Grand Jury Prize in the ‘World Cinema — Documentary’ category at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.[7] In 2013, as part of a publicly-voted list produced by the Hospital Club, The Guardian Culture Professionals Network listed Leifer in the “100 most innovative and influential people in British creative and media industries”.[8] He was nominated for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures by the Producers Guild of America in 2023.[9]

Other credits include The Invisible War (Oscar nominee[10], Emmy winner[11], Peabody winner[12]) and The Interrupters (Emmy winner[13]).

He later produced Longinotto’s Dreamcatcher in 2015, which went on to win Sundance’s World Cinema Directing Award.[14]

Leifer was the executive producer of Academy Award-winning documentary Icarus in 2017,[15] and Mayor in 2020, which won an Emmy.[16] He also produced Dror Moreh’s The Human Factor, about the United States’ 30-year effort to bring peace to the Middle East.

In 2022, he produced All That Breathes, directed by Shaunak Sen – the first film to have won both the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival.[17] The film subsequently received BAFTA[18] and Oscar nominations for Best Documentary[19]. At the 84th awards ceremony, All That Breathes won a Peabody Award for “its graceful portrait of empathy and interconnectivity between nature and man.”[20]

Other productions include George Carlin’s American Dream, a two-part documentary directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio which won the 2022 Emmy for Outstanding Documentary[21] and Once Upon A Time In Londongrad,[22] a political thriller about 14 mysterious UK deaths with alleged Russian links, described by The Guardian as “a blazing fireball that could topple our democracy”[23].

Leifer also produced Roman sitcom Plebs, which was the most-watched show in ITV2’s history.[24] The series ended after five seasons with a feature-length special[25] released in 2022.

Most recently, Leifer produced Teenage Wasteland which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival[26], The Balloonists which premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival[27], and Nuisance Bear which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival[28]. This latest win makes Leifer the only person in Sundance history to have won the Grand Jury Prize three times (in either documentary or fiction).

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Mitchell, Wendy (2011-01-19). “Teddy Leifer”. Screen. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  2. ^ “Rise Films”. Rise Films. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  3. ^ “2023 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences”. www.oscars.org. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  4. ^ https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/all-that-breathes/
  5. ^ “THE ACADEMY INVITES 398 TO MEMBERSHIP”. press.oscars.org. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  6. ^ Kay, Jeremy (2007-05-07). “We Are Together wins Tribeca Audience Award”. Screen. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  7. ^ Finke, Nikki (2009-01-25). “SUNDANCE AWARDS: ‘We Live in Public’, ‘Push’, ‘Rough Aunties’, ‘The Maid’ Win Jury Prizes; ‘Afghan Star, ‘An Education’, ‘The Cove’, ‘Push’ Are Audience Favorites”. Deadline. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  8. ^ “The Hospital Club 100 list 2013”. The Guardian. 2013-11-19. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  9. ^ Byrd, Michelle (2023-02-27). “Producers Guild of America Awards Celebrates Everything Everywhere All At Once, White Lotus, The Bear, Navalny & More with Top Honors”. Producers Guild. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  10. ^ “The Invisible War Nominated for Oscar!”. Independent Lens. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  11. ^ Ritchie, Kevin. ““Invisible War,” “Crash Reel” among doc Emmy winners”. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  12. ^ “Independent Lens: The Invisible War”. The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  13. ^ Campbell, Christopher. “‘Saving Face,’ ‘The Interrupters’ and ‘The Loving Story’ Among Winners at the 2013 News & Doc Emmys”. www.nonfics.com. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  14. ^ Vlessing, Etan (2015-02-25). “Sundance Award Winners ‘Dreamcatcher,’ ‘(T)error’ Headed to Hot Docs”. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  15. ^ McNary, Dave (2018-03-05). “Netflix Wins First Feature Documentary Oscar With ‘Icarus’“. Variety. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  16. ^ “POV Wins A News & Documentary Emmy Award for David Osit’s Mayor | American Documentary”. www.amdoc.org. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  17. ^ “A Poetic New Film Follows Two Dedicated Brothers Saving Delhi’s Black Kites | Audubon”. www.audubon.org. 2022-10-25. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  18. ^ “2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards: The Winners”. www.bafta.org. 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  19. ^ .“2023 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences”. www.oscars.org. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  20. ^ https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/all-that-breathes/
  21. ^ “George Carlin’s American Dream”. Television Academy. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  22. ^ Goldbart, Max (2022-05-16). “‘Once Upon A Time In Londongrad’: Sky Greenlights Landmark Doc Series From Hulu’s ‘WeWork’ Director Jed Rothstein”. Deadline. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  23. ^ Seale, Jack (2022-05-31). “Once Upon a Time in Londongrad review – a blazing fireball that could topple our democracy”. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  24. ^ “Plebs is getting a fourth series on ITV2”. Digital Spy. 2017-09-11. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  25. ^ Plebs: Soldiers of Rome (TV Movie 2022) – IMDb, retrieved 2023-12-06
  26. ^ “Film Forum · TEENAGE WASTELAND”. Film Forum. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  27. ^ Carey, Matthew (2025-09-11). “‘The Balloonists’ Ascends At TIFF: Story Of Unlikely Duo Who Attempted First Nonstop Flight Around World In Balloon”. Deadline. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  28. ^ Grierson, Tim; critic, Senior US. “‘Nuisance Bear’ review: Sundance US Documentary winner is thoughtful, impactful study of Canada’s polar bears”. Screen. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
  29. ^ “Oscars winners and nominees 2013: Complete list”. Los Angeles Times. 25 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2018-04-10.