About Me

WHO IS KIRA BURSKY?

(hint: she is a strange one and loves life.) 

My name is Kira Bursky. I am 19, have long hair, eat chocolate as much as I drink water and go crazy every time I hear anyone who uses the phrase "the bees knees." I am a filmmaker and a songwriter and artist of various sorts. I want to make films and write songs that are reminiscent of circuses, childhood, imagination, growing up, magic, food, eternal friendships, and forbidden love. And other curious things naturally.

I like the feeling of being unable to stop laughing. In some ways I think I am addicted to happiness and joy, but I also value the ability to accept sadness. 

I like the moments leading up to blushing and being filled up with butterflies. 

I've finally realized and accepted that life is always in a state of transition and it is in not knowing that we are finally free. 

I value love and honesty over all other qualities because I feel as though love and honesty are so powerful and unlock a depth and vibrancy to being alive that no other quality can. 

Eye contact if one of my favorite things.

Some of my biggest inspirations are Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, Jan Svankmajer, Maurice Sendak, and Yann Tiersen. 

I have fallen in love before. I shall fall in love again. I love love. My dream is to meet someone who becomes my eternal best friend and lover. I want us to grow old together, have two person dance parties, to love each other, and then to open a chocolate & tea shop in Australia when we are old with frail backs. Maybe we will have strong backs. Who knows.

I wrote a children's book called the Last Yaya. In the "About Me" section of the book I mentioned my irrational fear of wasps, and how at one point it instigated a month long habit of checking my socks for wasps prior to putting them on. No worries, though. I am no longer irrationally fearful of wasps because I believe that the fear of wasps is irrevocably and undeniably rational.

I love dark fantasy films. But I also love feel-good comedies. I like all genres and can not choose one genre as "my genre." I simply want to direct honest stories that are reflective of my mindset.

I am such a foodie. Do not doubt this. I would drop filmmaking and songwriting and everything if it meant I could survive by simply eating delicious foods day in and day out. 

Some random Kira facts: I am learning the accordion. I secretly am training myself to be a mime. I love food and tea and purple and red and hugs. So much. I have gone indoor skydiving... twice. I've run into a lake fully clothed... twice. Certain flavors make me go crazy (in the best way imaginable). I especially enjoy coconut, cinnamon, lavender, and cilantro. Indian food is... well, the bees knees. 

 

I am creating this blog in order to document my filmmakin', song writin', life-livin' journeys and adventures.

p.s.- That's Alfie. He's my soul-dog. He's the best.

Well, here's my official bio:

Filmmaker Kira Bursky is a visionary artist, whose unique perspective is already engaging audiences from around the world.

A 2014 graduate of the Motion Picture Arts program at Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan, Kira’s films have been screened at the Guam International Film Festival, the White House Student Film Festival, the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, the Princeton Student Film Festival, and the Portland Oregon Women's Film Festival, to name a few.
An award winning filmmaker, Kira's most recent dark fantasy short film We're Okay won Best of Fest at the All American High School Film Festival in New York City in October 2014, First Place at the Mosaic Film Festival 2014 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Second Place at Highway 61 in Pine City, Minnesota. Her fantasy romance film Girly has won Best U.S. Narrative at The Lovett School High School Film Fest in Atlanta, Georgia  and First Place at the Mosaic Film Festival 2013 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her film Hello From Malaysia was a Finalist at the first ever White House Student Film Festival. Warm Rush and What Are You?, the former a music video of one of Kira's songs from her debut album Confused Travels and the latter an experimental film have also won various awards.

Kira has been recognized nationally as a 2014 National YoungArts Foundation finalist where she was selected from more than 11,000 high school candidates. Along with 170 national finalists from a variety of art disciplines and six other filmmakers, she spent a week of intense master classes and workshops with internationally renowned artists in Miami, Florida.

Kira was nominated as one of sixty 2014 U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts finalists, the highest honor that can be awarded to any artistically talented graduating high school senior. YoungArts serves as the exclusive nominating agency for the artistic graduating high school seniors for the U.S. Presidential Scholars program. Every year YoungArts nominates sixty YoungArts winners to the White House-appointed Commission on Presidential Scholars from which twenty are selected as U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

All Around Artsy is Kira's film production company, which she founded in 2009.  The company has produced approximately twenty-five films during the past five years. December 2013 Kira released her first music album entitled "Confused Travels" under her performance name of Miss Whimsy. Kira currently resides in NYC where she works for documentarian Morgan Spurlock's production company Warrior Poets as a post-production intern. She is in pre-production for her first feature film.