Alison Murray

Directing

Alison Murray

Nova Scotia - Canada

Alison Murray is a Canadian/British screenwriter and director based between Canada and Argentina. In 2020 shooting began on Murray's new feature film Ariel, developed with The Film Farm and produced by Cepa Cine. Production was halted by the global pandemic but completed in June 2021. Murray's documentary Caprichosos de San Telmo, shot on location in Buenos Aires, premiered in the Toronto International Film Festival and continued Murray's tradition of seeking to empower people living on the fringes. Murray's documentary Carny following the secret life of fairground workers, was broadcast on the Sundance Channel, Channel 4 UK and TVOntario. It premiered in the Hot Docs Festival and won best documentary in the Brooklyn International Film Festival. Mouth to Mouth, Murray's fictional feature debut (writer/director) starred Oscar Nominee Elliot Page. The film showcases Murray's signature choreographic style, woven into a powerful narrative about a search for belonging. It premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival and went on to win Best Feature Prizes at the Brooklyn International Film Festival, Berlin's Britspotting Festival, and Festival D' Annonay, France. Train on the Brain was Murray's documentary for Channel 4 UK and TVOntario, in which she rode the rails across North America armed with digital and Super 8 cameras, giving a platform to marginalized youth. Train on the Brain screened to a huge audience at Glastonbury Festival . Murray studied theatre writing, dance and choreography before moving into film. After completing an MA in Film at the Royal College of Art, Murray directed music videos and short films.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Ariel poster
7.2

Argentina-born siblings unearth family secrets when they return to their birth country to dance tango.

Ariel

2023

Ariel poster
7.2

Argentina-born siblings unearth family secrets when they return to their birth country to dance tango.

Ariel

2023

Mouth to Mouth poster
5.5

An aimless adolescent joins several itinerant misfits who live on the fringe of society and welcome at-risk youths into their fold.

Mouth to Mouth

2005

Mouth to Mouth poster
5.5

An aimless adolescent joins several itinerant misfits who live on the fringe of society and welcome at-risk youths into their fold.

Mouth to Mouth

2005

No artwork available
2.3

A young woman leaves a Chinese takeaway where she has been working and get confronted by a pervert with a pair of pants on his head. The woman gains power over him by exposing him to her sexuality.

Pantyhead

No artwork available
2.3

A young woman leaves a Chinese takeaway where she has been working and get confronted by a pervert with a pair of pants on his head. The woman gains power over him by exposing him to her sexuality.

Pantyhead

No artwork available
NR

Choreographer/Director Alison Murray takes club-style movements, gesture and game-playing as the basis for this celebration of youthful female camaraderie.

Horseplay

1995

Caprichosos de San Telmo poster
1.0

A portrait of the working class musicians and dancers of Buenos Aires's San Telmo neighborhood, who have channeled the city's many cultural influences into the street performance called Murga.

Caprichosos de San Telmo

2011

Caprichosos de San Telmo poster
1.0

A portrait of the working class musicians and dancers of Buenos Aires's San Telmo neighborhood, who have channeled the city's many cultural influences into the street performance called Murga.

Caprichosos de San Telmo

2011

Kissy Suzuki Suck poster
NR

The delirious sexual fantasies of two bleached blondes in a car.

Kissy Suzuki Suck

1992

No artwork available
1.0

CARNY is an intimate, gritty and poetic adventure following the lives of 'carnys' - traveling fairground workers whose experiences are outside the normalcy of most North Americans.

Carny

2008

No artwork available
6.5

Alison Murray travels as a hobo on freight trains across Canada and the US. She gets to know the community of train riders, especially the many girls riding the rails.

Train On The Brain

2000