Nietzchka Keene

Nietzchka KEENE (1952–2004) was an American writer and director. After receiving the Fulbright Grant, she made her feature debut The Juniper Tree (1990), starring the Icelandic singer Björk in her first film role. A graduate of UCLA Film School, she taught filmmaking and editing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison until her death in 2004. Keene was diagnosed with cancer earlier that year. At the time of her death, she had nearly completed her third feature film Barefoot to Jerusalem. It was completed and released in 2008.