Bryan Single is an American documentary filmmaker.
After graduating from the School of Film at California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles, he apprenticed at 20th Century Fox Studios for producer Lynda Obst during the development of the science-fiction film Contact (1997), written by astronomer/cosmologist Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan, and subsequently worked in the office of director Michael Mann during the production of the film The Insider (1999), which starred Al Pacino and Russell Crowe and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Bryan’s first film as director, an experimental documentary shot in Andalucía, Spain and entitled Shadows of the Sun (2002), explores the mythic rites and initiations of a matador de toros who transmigrates through a story from birth to death to rebirth. The film was co-written with Mexican torera and poet Rosita Morales, and narrated by acclaimed flamenco-gitano, Jesus Montoya.
Early in his career Bryan also participated in numerous documentaries as a cinematographer and cameraman, including Big River Man (2009), which was awarded Best Cinematography at Sundance Film Festival and broadcast on the Discovery Channel, and God in America (2010), a television series for PBS Frontline.
His second film as director is the award-winning documentary Children of War (2010), which follows a group of child soldiers in Uganda over a period of three years as they exit the battlefield and undergo a process of recovery and renewal while in a rehabilitation center. The story’s emotionally moving scenes of peace-building and returning home in the aftermath of war inspired an unprecedented collaboration with the United Nations and bestowed the movie the honor of a ‘World Premiere’ in the historic UN General Assembly Hall in New York City, the first event of its kind. Children of War has also galvanized audiences at the European Parliament, the Hague, the US Institute of Peace, the International Red Cross, Konzerthaus Opera House in Berlin, Le Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, and has been celebrated in honor of global luminaries such as Sérgio Vieira de Mello (United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) and Armin T. Wegner (photographer of the Armenian Genocide during WW1). The film is archived in the library collections of academic institutions around the world, where it continues to be screened.
To further maximize the impact of Children of War, Bryan paused his work in film for two years to co-found Children of Peace, a nonprofit organization in Uganda which empowers former child soldiers (both boys and girls) through programs in psycho-social support, physical therapy, education, art and music therapy, yoga, vocational and agricultural training, and international advocacy. During this time Bryan also served a titular role on the Honorary Artists Board of Advisors for the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, and as a jury member for the Cinema for Peace Foundation in Berlin, which supports film-based projects addressing global humanitarian and environmental issues.
His third film as director, Thangka: Visions of Tibet (2018), is a documentary which explores the art and rituals of Tibetan Buddhism. The project, which involved five years of Buddhist study and travel throughout Tibet, China, Bhutan, and India, also inspired Bryan to write The Magic Circle, a ‘liberation story’ (namthar) set in medieval Tibet. A feature film is in development.
Bryan’s fourth film is Heart of Resilience (2025), a documentary following international artists Benjamin Swatez and Amanda DeLuca down the Congo River, one of the most exploited, oppressed, and dangerous regions in the world, as they symbiotically envision and paint large-scale empowerment murals together with local Congolese communities.
