Eliza McNitt is a writer and director who combines science and art to explore the human connection to the cosmos. Her films and immersive experiences have premiered at Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Tribeca Festival, and Cannes Film Festival. A two-time Intel Science Fair winner and recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan grant, McNitt’s work spans documentary, narrative, and emerging media, including the internationally broadcast documentary Requiem for the Honeybee, the survival story Without Fire, and the space exploration film Artemis Falls, commissioned by TED.
Her virtual reality experience Fistful of Stars showcased explorations of the Hubble Space Telescope, and her VR series SPHERES, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel and starring Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain, and Patti Smith, won the Grand Prize for Virtual Reality at the Venice Film Festival.
McNitt premiered her mixed reality experience ASTRA at SXSW 2024. Her short film Ancestra premiered at the Tribeca Festival 2025 and was awarded Gold at Ciclope Festival. The film employs a hybrid AI-driven production approach, blending traditional filmmaking with emerging generative technologies to explore the cosmic and biological origins of life. ASTRA merges storytelling, interactive design, and richly rendered environments into a deeply personal yet universal journey.