2026 - 2028 MFA Directing Documentary, National Film and Television School
2014 - 2017 BA (Hons) Film and Television, University of the Arts London (First Class Honours)
2020 Grierson Trust DocLab
Jess Gell is a documentary filmmaker and artist from South London. Her short films include Jean Cooke: Delight In the Thing Seen, about the life of RA Painter Jean Cooke, and The Day Frank Died, which explores the impact of her paramedic grandfather's sudden death in the 1960s.
Her work has a community focus, with short film directing commissions including the Dying at home: Debbie and Mark's Story, for St Wilfrid's HospiceNational Lottery-funded Power of Words for Status Employment, and series Inside the Artist's Studio for Art on a Postcard x War Child UK.
As an assistant producer and researcher, Jess has worked closely with BAFTA and Emmy-winning producers and directors on documentaries including Mozart: Genius for Hire (dir. Dhivya Kate Chetty, Section 52 Films, Sky Arts 2025), War Paint - Women at War (dir. Margy Kinmonth, Foxtrot Films, Sky Arts 2025) about women artists in war and conflict, and multi award-winning, BAFTA-recognised Hostile (dir. Sonita Gale, Galeforce Films, BFI Player / Theatrical 2022), about the UK’s hostile environment towards migrant communities, executive produced by Nitin Sawhney.
