Deb Shoval’s first feature film AWOL, starring Lola Kirke (Mozart in the Jungle, Mistress America, Gemini, Gone Girl) and Breeda Wool (UnREAL, Mr. Mercedes), premiered in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016, winning praise from publications including The LA Times, The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and Marie Claire. AWOL was distributed worldwide by The Orchard and is available in 66 countries; in the US, platforms include Netflix, iTunes, GooglePlay, and Amazon. AWOL began as a short film that premiered in competition at Sundance in 2011, winning awards from Kodak, Technicolor, and Women in Film, and was acquired by PBS.
Shoval received her most valuable education as a young apprentice on a horse-powered farm in Maine. There she fell in love with the cycles of nature and the interconnectedness of all beings.
Shoval’s film projects have received support from The Jerome Foundation, Frameline, Women in Film, Tribeca Film Institute, IFP, Film Independent, Adrienne Shelly Foundation, and US Works in Progress. She has an M.F.A. in film from Columbia University and a B.A. in sustainable agriculture from Hampshire College. She is a Fellow of the Berlinale Talent Campus, Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory, and MacDowell.
