A Surprise From Oscar: Sara Nesson ’93 Earns Academy Award Nod

“It didn't really sink in until I went to the official website to confirm,” she recounts. “When I saw it on the list, I started screaming, 'I'm going to the Oscars!'"

Poster Girl profiles Sgt. Robyn Murray, a former cheerleader turned Iraq War machine gunner, and her post-combat experience dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“One reason we are so clueless about what vets are going through is that they are often afraid to talk about their issues,” says Nesson. “It takes a brave person like Robyn to lay it all out on the table.”

While Nesson didn’t win the ultimate prize on Oscar night, the nomination has brought the documentary extensive international exposure. HBO broadcast the film in March as part of a series about post traumatic stress disorder.

Nesson made her first film at Rivers with Christian Ericson '93 as part of the senior banquet. Before Poster Girl she worked as principal editor for the PBS child-labor documentary Stolen Childhoods. For future projects, she hopes to start adapting her own short stories and screenplays into more ambitious short films.

“Whenever I need to escape, I put myself in my work, because that’s where I feel the most challenged and elated,” she says. “I’m trying to take my filmmaking to the next level.”