Benita Raphan

Benita Raphan (November 5, 1962, New York City – January 10, 2021, New York City)^[1] was an American filmmaker and designer.^[2] She was known for directing short documentary films about "eccentric and unusual minds", including John Nash, Buckminster Fuller, Edwin Land and Emily Dickinson.^[1]

Raphan received her undergraduate degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Royal College of Art in London.^[1] She spent 10 years in Paris as a graphic designer for various fashion companies and came back to New York in mid-1990s.^[1] She taught at the School of Visual Arts for the last 15 years of her life.

She received a MacDowell Fellowship in 2004.^[3] Her films have been bought for the collections of the British Film & Video Artists' Film Study Collection and the Walker Art Center, and her design collages are in the permanent collection of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum.^[3] She was awarded a 2019 Guggenheim fellowship.^[4][5]