about Palmer

Primary Positions: Director, Editor, Cinematographer, Filmmaking Instructor.

Palmer Durr is from Bluffton, Indiana USA. He is a film director and cinematographer who has worked in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico, Brazil, China, and Europe. He has invested over a decade with the Kayapó Indigenous Community of the Amazon Rainforest, where he directed the film “Kukràdjà” and taught film-craft to help preserve cultural tradition.

Career Highlights:

• Palmer continues to support cultural preservation projects in the Amazon Rainforest with the Kayapó Indigenous Community. Past assignments occurred in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2022 and 2023. Palmer has led and supported multiple camera and editing classes for Kayapó filmmakers. He directed the documentary Kukràdjà with a Kayapó film crew in the summer of 2024. The production phase took 75 days in Kendjam, A’Ukre, and Pykarãrãkre villages. The post-production phase took four months, editing 3,816 hours of footage into a 71-minute feature documentary.

• Palmer made a documentary about athletes hiking 240 miles from Sparta to Thermopylae, Greece, in May 2017. The project raised money for the Navy SEAL Foundation and Glen Doherty Memorial Foundation. He carried a camera, gimbal, drone, audio recorder, water, snacks, and nutritional supplements for 8 consecutive days hiking 30 miles per day. This work blends into veteran-related films, including World War II eyewitness stories and swimming in the English Channel to Omaha Beach.

• Director of Photography for The Band Perry’s “Marfa Prada” series

• Filming for: Google, Directors Adam Shenkman & Nicole Daddona, Director Owen Thomas, Photographer Sasha Samsonova, Baked Studios, Center Design Brooklyn, Bayonet Media, Jeopardy, ESPN, Sports Illustrated Kids, Goldfish, Honda, KillCliff, Bubs Naturals, and Tito’s Vodka.

Other experiences:

• The American Society of Cinematographers Master Class Certificate (2023) Instructors: Robert Yeoman, ASC / Sandra Valde-Hansen, ASC / Polly Morgan, ASC / Steve Gainer, ASC / Michael Pessah, ASC / Michael Goi, ASC / Shelly Johnson, ASC / Charlie Lieberman, ASC

• Pykôre Associação Indígena Certificate / Coletivo Djamtire (2022 & 2023)

• Ball State University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (class of 2013)

• Successfully graduating from a 50-hour Navy SEAL training camp for civilians (Kokoro 40)

Favorite visionaries: Photographer Dorothea Lange. Cinematographers Bradford Young, Roger Deakins, Emmanuel Lubezki, Hoyte van Hoytema, Adam Arkapaw, and Pierre de Villiers. Directors Denis Villeneuve, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, Christopher Nolan, Akira Kurosawa, Wong Kar Wai, and Edward Yang. Painters Rembrandt and Edward Hopper. Writer/Professor Tolkien and Chef Thomas Civallero.

Palmer’s film work has helped raise over $300,000.00 (USD) for charity.

Festivals and Awards: Vimeo Staff Pick 2021, Fantasia Fest 2021 Selection, Beyond Fest 2021 Selection, L’Estange 2021 Selection and Grand Prix Canal+ Winner, Fifigrot 2021 Selection, SUFF 2021 Selection, Kiyav International Short Film Fest 2021 Selection, Horror Fest International 2021 Selection, Flick Fair film festival 2021, Coronado Film Festival 2020, Jelly Fest Film Festival 2020