Nathaniel Lezra

Nathaniel Lezra is an award winning Spanish-American documentary director and video journalist. His creative focus is on telling humanist stories that illuminate extreme lifestyles and global experiences.

In 2023, he served as director and executive producer of Don't Leave Me Behind: Stories of Young Ukranian Survival, a feature documentary special for MTV and Paramount. Shot on location in Poland and at the Ukrainian border, the film is an examination of the fears and resiliencies within a group of teenage Ukrainian refugees fleeing combat. The film is now available for streaming on Paramount+ and viewable via broadcast services worldwide.

In 2025, his latest documentary titled Roads of Fire won Best Documentary Feature at the 40th Santa Barbara International Film Festival. An examination of the migration crisis in the western hemisphere, the film tells the stories of an asylum seeker in NYC, a human smuggler in Colombia, and the humanitarian organizations on the frontlines. It was shot entirely on location using a verité cinematic approach, bringing the filmmakers into the heart of Gulf Cartel controlled regions of Colombia.

He is currently mid-production on a new feature documentary, which focuses on the mental health of wildland first responders.

In addition to his video work, he has had social-political analysis written work published in Filmmaker Magazine, and El Diario.

BA from Emerson College in Film and Visual Media

1 Year visiting student at NYU Gallatin - focus on latin America sociology and journalism.