Anna Biller

Anna Biller is an American filmmaker known for her handcrafted, visually sumptuous films that blend feminist critique with the aesthetics of 1960s and 1970s genre cinema. She writes, directs, produces, edits, composes the music, and designs the costumes and sets for her projects, making her one of the few contemporary filmmakers with near-total creative control. Biller's feature films Viva (2007) and The Love Witch (2016) have earned her a cult following, with the latter becoming a touchstone in discussions of the female gaze and feminist horror. Her work is characterized by saturated Technicolor palettes, meticulous period detail, and a wry, analytical tone. Biller is also a prominent public intellectual, publishing essays on her Substack and speaking widely about gender inequality in Hollywood. As of 2026, she is developing her third feature, a period thriller set in 1970s Los Angeles. Her films are frequently taught in university film studies courses, and she has been featured on the cover of Filmmaker Magazine (Fall 2016) and interviewed in BOMB Magazine (2017). She has approximately 45,000 Instagram followers, 30,000 Twitter followers, and 5,000–10,000 Substack subscribers.[edit]

Anna Biller grew up in Los Angeles in an artistic household. Her mother, Barbara Biller, is a painter and sculptor, and her father was an architect. Surrounded by visual art and classic cinema from an early age, she developed a passion for the saturated colors and theatrical sets of 1960s and 1970s European and American genre films. She studied art at UCLA, earning a BA, and later completed an MFA in Film and Video at CalArts. During her time at CalArts, she began making short films. Her first short, Three Women (1998), established her signature style of feminist critique wrapped in lush, retro visuals. Another short, A Visit from the Incubus (2001), a musical comedy about a witch, directly prefigured her later feature The Love Witch. Before her feature debut, Biller worked as a painter and costume designer, honing the artisanal skills she would later bring to her films. She is approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall, with dark brown hair and brown eyes.[edit]

Biller's debut feature, Viva, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2007. A satirical homage to 1970s sexploitation films, it follows a bored housewife exploring her sexuality. Biller wrote, directed, produced, edited, scored, and designed the costumes and sets. The film received mixed reviews but was praised for its visual craft. Nine years later, The Love Witch premiered at the Sitges Film Festival in 2016, where it won Best Feature and Best Director. The Technicolor horror-comedy, about a witch who uses magic to make men fall in love with her, was acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories and became a cult hit, grossing over $230,000 at the US box office and gaining a massive streaming audience. The New York Times and The New Yorker named it one of the best films of 2016. In 2017, it won the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Screenplay and the International Horror Guild Award for Best Motion Picture. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association gave it a Special Citation for "her visionary reinvention of the Technicolor melodrama." In 2019, the Criterion Collection released The Love Witch on Blu-ray and DVD, a rare honor for a contemporary independent film. Since then, Biller has been developing her third feature, a period thriller set in the 1970s tentatively titled The Witch's Lair, while building a significant online presence through her Substack newsletter, where she writes about filmmaking, feminism, and the industry. She has also toured extensively, speaking at universities and film festivals.[edit]

Anna Biller's public persona is that of a fiercely independent, intellectually rigorous filmmaker who rejects contemporary Hollywood aesthetics. Her signature style is a meticulous, handcrafted retro look, saturated colors, period costumes, and theatrical sets. The media portrays her as a cult figure and a leading voice in feminist genre cinema. Her content's tone is serious, analytical, and unapologetically feminist. She engages with fans through her Substack and social media, often answering questions about filmmaking. Her fandom is unofficial but active on platforms like Letterboxd and Reddit, where fans analyze her films' gender politics. She does not have an official fandom name. Notable quotes include: "I think the female gaze is about looking at men the way women actually look at them, which is with a combination of desire, fear, and a critical eye" (The Guardian, 2016); "I wanted to make a film about a woman who uses magic to get what she wants, but the magic is really just a metaphor for the way women are socialized to manipulate men" (BOMB Magazine, 2017); and "Hollywood is a system built on the male gaze. The only way to change it is to make films that are completely outside of that system" (Filmmaker Magazine, 2016).[edit]

Anna Biller commands a distinct following defined not by mass-market fervor but by a rigorous appreciation for her handcrafted aesthetic and feminist critique of 1960s genre cinema. Her audience consists primarily of arthouse enthusiasts, horror aficionados, and critics who value the meticulous Technicolor palettes and theatrical sets that define her work rather than members of a unified group with a formalized name or organized campaigns. While her film The Love Witch has secured a cult status through critical acclaim and festival circuits, this attention manifests as niche engagement within independent filmmaking circles rather than large-scale fan rituals or collective projects like billboards. The discourse surrounding her career focuses on her unique blend of pastiche and subversive gender commentary, with her upcoming project The Face of Horror generating renewed industry interest at the Toronto International Film Festival in August 2026. Despite this sustained relevance in specific cultural spheres, iFANN's Global Fame Engine has evaluated her current standing and determined that she does not hold a placement in the published rankings. Consequently, Anna Biller is currently unranked in the Global Top 1,000 and holds no position on any Top-100 scope list maintained by the organization.[edit]

Biller designed and sewed many of the costumes for The Love Witch herself, including the elaborate velvet and lace dresses. She composed the film's original score using a synthesizer, aiming for a 1960s/70s horror film sound. A self-taught editor, she learned filmmaking by studying Alfred Hitchcock, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Mario Bava. Biller is an avid reader of feminist theory and cites Laura Mulvey's essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema as a major influence. Her Substack newsletter has become a hub for discussions on the female gaze and independent filmmaking. She maintains an active presence on Instagram (@msannabiller), Twitter (@missannabiller), and Facebook (Anna Biller Productions). The most significant moment in her recent career trajectory was the selection of her supernatural thriller The Face of Horror for the Midnight Madness section at the Toronto International Film Festival, marking a long-awaited return to the festival circuit after a period of development. This selection followed the revelation of first looks from the Prague-shot medieval horror film in September 2025, cementing her reputation as a unique voice in contemporary feminist horror without relying on viral folklore or chaotic public spectacles.[edit]

Anna Biller was born to Barbara Biller, a painter and sculptor, and an architect father. She grew up in Los Angeles in a creative household. She has a cat named Pippin, who appears in her social media posts. Biller lives with her husband and her cat in Los Angeles.[edit]

Anna Biller is married to documentary filmmaker Robert Greene, known for Actress and Bisbee '17. The Love Witch was distributed by Oscilloscope Laboratories and starred Samantha Robinson. Her debut feature Viva was distributed by Cult Epics.[edit]

Anna Biller married documentary filmmaker Robert Greene in 2014. The couple met through mutual friends in the Los Angeles independent film scene. Greene has been a supportive partner, and they have collaborated on film projects. They have no children. Their relationship is considered stable and private. Biller has not publicly detailed any relationships prior to her marriage. As of 2026, she remains married to Greene.[edit]

Per iFANN's editorial analysis, Anna Biller's net worth is estimated at $900,000 as of 2026. The bulk of her income comes from her independent films. The Love Witch had a budget of approximately $250,000, raised through crowdfunding and personal funds, and grossed over $230,000 in US theaters. It continues to generate revenue from streaming on platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime, as well as from the Criterion Collection release. She also earns from her Substack newsletter, Patreon, and university speaking engagements, which typically pay between $5,000 and $10,000 per appearance. Biller does not have major endorsement deals or business ventures outside her films. She owns a home in Los Angeles.[edit]

Anna Biller has won several awards for The Love Witch, including the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Screenplay, the Sitges Film Festival's Best Feature and Best Director, the International Horror Guild Award for Best Motion Picture, and a Special Citation from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.[edit]