Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round

Ilana Trachtman has made Emmy award-winning nonfiction programs for twenty-five years. For PBS, HBO Family, ABC-TV, Showtime, Lifetime, Discovery, A&E, and the Sundance Channel she has explored worlds: the legacy of slavery in Latin America, activism among Gulf coast shrimpers, glassblowing with at-risk youth. Prime-time directing credits include independent feature Mariachi High; Black in Latin America hosted by Henry Louis Gates; and Texas Ranch House. Ilana was a supervising producer on PBS’ History Detectives, the Sundance Channel’s Big Ideas for a Small Planet and began her career on PBS’ Reading Rainbow. Ilana’s independent film Praying with Lior screened theatrically in over 60 cities, receiving six Audience Awards for Best Documentary, the International Disability Film Festival Grand Prixe, and was a critic’s pick of the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Washington Post. For WHYY, Ilana directed The Pursuit: 50 Years in the Fight for LGBT Rights, winner of the Mid-Atlantic Emmy for Best Documentary.