mind and heart [are] at the moment". In 2014, Jessup starred in the short film Fragments, and in 2015, Jessup's short film Boy, which he wrote and directed, and was funded by bravoFACT, premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2016, Jessup was included in Filmmaker Magazines annual list of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film. His short film Lira's Forest, which he wrote and directed, premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. Jessup wants to expand this story with a feature film, Simon's Forest. In 2017, it was announced that Jessup would be directing a documentary profile of Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul for FilmStruck and The Criterion Collection. The film was released in the spring of 2018. In 2019, he produced the omnibus film 30/30 Vision: 3 Decades of Strand Releasing, which included short films by Ira Sachs, Catherine Breillat, Cindy Sherman, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Brady Corbet, Rithy Pahn, Lulu Wang and more. He contributed his own film to the program, Night Flight, inspired by the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Influences As a director, Jessup has expressed a particular fascination with Japanese film and culture and has stated in interviews that he is highly influenced by East Asian cinema, including directors Hirokazu Kore-eda, Edward Yang, Yasujirō Ozu, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. He has also expressed admiration for directors Abbas Kiarostami, Andrew Haigh, and Ira Sachs. Personal life Jessup is gay and came out publicly in a post on Instagram in June 2019. Filmography Film Television References External links 1994 births Living people Film directors from Toronto Male actors from Toronto Canadian male child actors Canadian male film actors Writers from Toronto Canadian gay actors Canadian gay writers Canadian male television actors Canadian LGBT screenwriters 21st-century Canadian screenwriters LGBT film directors 21st-century LGBT people Gay screenwriters