Jonathan Sarno

An Art History and English graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Jonathan Sarno did post-graduate training in playwriting and directing at the Yale School of Drama under the directors Arthur Penn, George Roy Hill, Elia Kazan, Roberto Rosselini and the novelist Jerzy Kozinski. After Yale he studied film directing at New York University. He began his professional career in filmmaking with the documentary short The Green Felt Big Top which was shown by the Lincoln Center Film Festival. His theatrical feature film career began with the founding of CNI Cinema to produce The Kirlian Witness, a psychologically thriller that went on to worldwide distribution when it was acquired by Paramount Pictures. His second theatrical feature Ramona, a romantic comedy, was acquired by Curb Communications and won numerous awards at international film festivals. In addition to directing films Jonathan Sarno has written numerous screenplays, most notably Mesmer, co-written by the late Dennis Potter, directed by Roger Spottiswood and starring Alan Richman. Jonathan Sarno serves as the North American representative of the Cartagena International Film Festival in Cartagena, Colombia, South America. The festival is under the direction of the Nobel award-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez.