Andrew Swant (born 1976 in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American filmmaker best known for William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet, The Jeffrey Dahmer Files, and What What in the Butt.[1]
In 2012, Swant co-wrote and starred in The Jeffrey Dahmer Files, a feature film about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer which premiered at the SXSW film festival. It received positive reviews and was a New York Times Critic's Pick.[2] Swant's portrayal of Dahmer was called "chillingly effective" by The Hollywood Reporter and "dead-on creepy perfection" by Entertainment Weekly.[3] The film was picked up by IFC Films and released in early 2013.[4]
In 2007, Swant and collaborator Bobby Ciraldo created the YouTube video What What (In the Butt), which immediately went viral.[5] As of March 2020 their YouTube channel had over 82 million views.[6] In 2009 the duo co-directed William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet, a documentary starring William Shatner, Ben Folds, and Henry Rollins.[7] Later that year they released Frankie Latina's Modus Operandi, an arthouse film which screened at the American Film Institute Film Festival in Los Angeles and stars Danny Trejo.[8] In 2014 they premiered a feature-length comedy called Hamlet A.D.D. at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. The partially animated film is based on Shakespeare's Hamlet and guest stars Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Dustin Diamond, and Gregg Turkington as Neil Hamburger.[9] Swant co-created a broadcast television show with Bobby Ciraldo and David Robbins called Something Theater, which aired sporadically from 2009 through 2011.[10]
In 2017, he directed Silently Steal Away, a documentary about an obscure radio personality named Jack Raymond and the small radio station, WCFW, which has been playing his show for over 50 years. The film, which screened at Hot Docs International Documentary Festival (Toronto) and Eaux Claires Festival of Music & Art, stars musician Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and features narration by Mark Borchardt of American Movie. He also produced The Dundee Project, a documentary directed by Mark Borchardt which premiered at Slamdance in Park City, Utah and later screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.[11]
In 2019, he directed Bon Iver: Autumn, a short documentary about the creation of Bon Iver's 2019/2020 world tour.[12] He also co-produced Give Me Liberty, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, and the Museum of Modern Art (New York). The film won the 2020 John Cassavetes Spirit Award and ranked #11 on The New York Times’s "Best Movies of 2019" list.[13]
He attended film school at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and art school at University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire where he majored in Fine Art and minored in Women's Studies.
Swant and Ciraldo (as the collaborative Special Entertainment) were awarded the Mary L. Nohl Fellowship for Established Artists in 2013.[14] [15] Other awards include the Best Documentary award at the Marbella International Film Festival, first place at Milwaukee's 24-hour Film Festival in 2005 and 2007,[16] a Brico Award in 2019,[17] and he was a Sundance TV Lab finalist in 2003.[18]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Give Me Liberty | Co-Producer | Sundance, Cannes, John Cassavetes Spirit Award | |
| 2019 | Bon Iver: Autumn | Director | ||
| 2017 | Silently Steal Away | Director | Hot Docs Film Festival | |
| 2014 | Hamlet A.D.D. | Director, Writer, Producer | Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art | |
| 2012 | The Jeffrey Dahmer Files | Actor, Writer | SXSW, Hot Docs, BFI | |
| 2010 | The Found Footage Show | Director, Producer | The A.V. Club | |
| 2009 | William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet | Co-Director | Winner, Best Feature, Marbella Film Festival | |
| 2009 | Modus Operandi | Writer, Producer, Actor | AFI Fest | |
| 2009 | Something Theater | Director, Writer, Producer | ||
| 2007 | What What (In the Butt) | Director, Writer, Producer | Featured on South Park |