Peter Bussian

Peter Bussian is an American independent filmmaker and photographer who has focused on documenting native cultures, countries in conflict and humanitarian issues for the past 35 years. He has received awards for his work from the International Photography Awards (Lucies) and the Nicholl Fellowships. Bussian has photographed in more than 25 countries for organizations and media outlets such as Conde Nast, The Guardian, NY Times, LA Times, United Nations, USAID, and many others. He has made documentary and narrative films in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Iraq, Ethiopia and among several Native American tribes. He is the author and photographer of two photography books: "Passage to Afghanistan" (Skyhorse, 2016) and "Trans New York" (Apollo 2021). Bussian is also an occasional film actor, most notable for playing the lead role Golden Globe winning Afghan Director Siddiq Barmak's film, Opium War, which was Afghanistan's official submission to the 2009 Academy Awards and won several film festival awards, including the Golden Marc'Aurelio Critics' Award for Best Film at the Rome Film Festival. Bussian has also written screenplays, including Scarlet Poppy, which was a Nicholl Fellowships (Oscars) semi-finalist and was a featured project at the Busan International Film Festival, International Film Festival of India, the Independent Filmmaker Project's "No Borders", Dubai International Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. He studied filmmaking at the Anthropology Film Center in Santa Fe, NM and holds a BA in history and philosophy from the University of Colorado.