Ilana Trachtman

Director:  AIN'T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND 

Ilana Trachtman has produced and directed Emmy Award-winning nonfiction programs for over twenty-five years. She has explored worlds for PBS, HBO Family, ABC-TV, Showtime, Lifetime, Discovery, A&E, and the Sundance Channel, pursuing stories such as the legacy of slavery in Latin America, social activism among Gulf Coast shrimpers, glassblowing for at-risk youth, and transgender parents. Favorite PBS prime-time credits include directing the independent feature Mariachi High; Black in Latin America, hosted by Henry Louis Gates; and Texas Ranch House; as well as producing for History Detectives and Reading Rainbow. Through her production company Ruby Pictures, Ilana made the feature Praying with Lior, which played theatrically in over 60 cities in the US and abroad. The film garnered 6 Audience Awards for Best Documentary, the Grand Prix at the International Disability Film Festival in Moscow, and was a critic's pick of the New York Times, New York Magazine, Washington Post, and Philadelphia Inquirer. Most recently, Ilana produced and directed The Pursuit: 50 Years in the Fight for LGBT Rights for WHYY, which won the Mid-Atlantic Emmy for Best Documentary.