Jarreth Merz is an award-winning director, producer and actor. His film An African Election premiered in the world documentary competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and some of his prizes include the Etat D’Esprit award at the Visions Du Reel Film Festival, the Grand Jury Award at the Atlanta Film Festival and the European Union award for best African film.
Merz has been making documentaries since 2007. He produced the documentary Glorious Exit, an autobiographical portrait of his journey to Nigeria upon his father’s death, which chronicles his experience as the first born son, expected to assume the responsibilities of organizing traditional funeral rites and feasts while facing clan hostilities, threats of poisoning, and exorbitant costs. Glorious Exit was directed by his brother Kevin Merz and has won various international prizes.
In 2009 Merz produced and directed The Soul of Ashanti for the Africa Channel, a documentary that traces the history of the Ashanti Kingdom’s most important sacrament and explores the relevance of chieftaincy today.
Merz studied acting and directing in New York and Zurich. He is also known for his portrayal of Simon of Cyrene in The Passion of the Christ and his recurring role as Charles Baruani in ER. He has also guest starred on Law & Order SVU. He is currently working on “A Political Safari”, a mobile-cinema continental campaign to support Africans engaged in democracy building and a biopic about the life of Russian-African poet Alexander Pushkin.
