Kimberly Peirce made her feature film debut with 1999’s acclaimed Boys Don’t Cry, a fact-based drama about the life and tragic death of Brandon Teena – a Nebraska transgender who was brutally raped and murdered after his double life was exposed. Boys Don't Cry plunged into a world few people know and emerged with a tale of universal resonance, an illuminating vision of our shared humanity.  Peirce heard about the Brandon Teena story while attending Columbia University as a graduate student.  Inspired by Teena’s life and death, she switched her thesis project to this compelling subject. Upon its release, Boys Don’t Cry became one of the most acclaimed and talked-about films of the year, earning many honors, including the Oscar for Best Actress for the film’s star Hilary Swank, as well as the Golden Globe, the Independent Spirit, the NY and LA Critics, and the National Board of Review Awards.

Peirce has been featured in the documentaries “Women in Film,” “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” and “Hollywood Brats.”  In addition to her feature work, Peirce has contributed non-fiction film and theater articles to Kansai Time Out, Grey City Journal and Chicago's Screen Magazine.  She is a graduate of the University of Chicago's BA, Columbia University's MFA and the Sundance Institute's Writing and Directing Lab programs, where Peirce first ...

Kimberly Peirce made her feature film debut with 1999’s acclaimed Boys Don’t Cry, a fact-based drama about the life and tragic death of Brandon Teena – a Nebraska transgender who was brutally raped and murdered after his double life was exposed. Boys Don't Cry plunged into a world few people know and emerged with a tale of universal resonance, an illuminating vision of our shared humanity.  Peirce heard about the Brandon Teena story while attending Columbia University as a graduate student.  Inspired by Teena’s life and death, she switched her thesis project to this compelling subject. Upon its release, Boys Don’t Cry became one of the most acclaimed and talked-about films of the year, earning many honors, including the Oscar for Best Actress for the film’s star Hilary Swank, as well as the Golden Globe, the Independent Spirit, the NY and LA Critics, and the National Board of Review Awards.

Peirce has been featured in the documentaries “Women in Film,” “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” and “Hollywood Brats.”  In addition to her feature work, Peirce has contributed non-fiction film and theater articles to Kansai Time Out, Grey City Journal and Chicago's Screen Magazine.  She is a graduate of the University of Chicago's BA, Columbia University's MFA and the Sundance Institute's Writing and Directing Lab programs, where Peirce first rose to prominence with her 16-mm experimental short “The Last Good Breath.”  The film ran in the Leopard of Tomorrow Program at the 1994 Locarno International Film Festival, winning several awards, including second place at the Canada International Film Festival, a Golden Award in the Experimental Division at the Chicago International Film Festival and first place at the Suffolk Film Festival.

Continuing her tradition of writing real-life stories inspired by America and the American family, Peirce is co-writing to direct a darkly entertaining tale of “Sex, Secrets and Taboo in Suburbia.” Peirce is also writing “Untitled Romantic Comedy '08,” in the vein of Pedro Almodovar and Woody Allen, in which a “guy's” group of friends resuscitates him from the worst possible breakup, and trains him to find true love in this gender twist on the classic romantic comedy.  Other projects include the “Untitled New Orleans Project,” inspired by true stories, in which Peirce takes a look at the lawless streets of New Orleans as they become the breeding ground for a great American gangster.