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Neil Hollander is American writer, filmmaker, journalist and sailor. Among public he is also known for being the author of "Nobel Voices", a joint project with Smithsoninan Institution. In this cooperation Hollander conducted interviews with more than 30 Nobel Prize winners.
Hollander was born in 1939 in New York City where completed his formal education. Being aspired to art, he joined the Rhode Island School of Design where graduated in Graphic Design. Some of his initial projects about filmmaking and writing are still available at his portfolio at RISD. Soon after graduating from RISD he joined a team of sailors that were about to sail the Pacific. On that trip he met Herald Mertes who was also into writing. The next three years Neil Hollander spent sailing on open sea and writing books about the last days of working sail. Once the trip was over he published his book and also used the writing to create his first film "The Last Sailors."
Discovering his passion for filmmaking, Hollander continued to direct and produce films but also write books. His books mainly are about the life on open sea, but also has written some books for kids. Among his most prominent written works are "Elusive Dove: The Search for Peace During World War I," "Great Zoo Break," "The yachtsman's emergency handbook," "Sailor talk" and more. Some of his books are co-written by other renowned authors like Charles Roth, Susanna Gretz, Timothy Jaques, to name a few. He is a distinguished member of several publishing companies.
Other than being recognized as an author, Neil Hollander also made a name of himself in the film industry. Here he has worked with famous stars like Orson Welles who was narrator in "The Last Sailors: The Final Days of Working Sail," while Anjelica Huston made appearance in "Burma: A Human Tragedy." This is a documentary film where Hollander portraits Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent two decades in custody as a political prisoner in her native Burma, purposefully sacrificing her life in order to make a grand statement about the severe human rights abuses. Hollander's attempt to bring to the broad public the problem of food scarcity in third world countries, came through his documentary titled as "H for Hunger", staring Henry Rollins as a narrator in the film.
Today, Hollander is still active as an author and film director who writes and produces his films. He is also active as a public speaker and is regularly seen at world-known exhibition shows.
