Peter Friedman is the founder of Strange Attractions, Inc., an independent film production company based in New York and Paris. Since 1984 he has directed and produced films which have received numerous awards, including the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, the LA Film Critics Award for Best Independent Film, a Peabody Award, the Prix Italia in Rome for Best Public TV Documentary Worldwide, and the Prix Europa in Berlin for Best Documentary Broadcast in Europe. His work has been nominated for an Emmy and an Academy Award. His films include The Life and Times of Life and Times (1998), There are No Direct Flights from New York to Marseilles (1998), Death by Design (1995; named "One of the 10 Best Films of 1995" by Film Comment), Silverlake Life (1993; named "One of the 10 Best Films of the Year" by The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Boston Globe, and "One of the Best Films of the Decade" by Utne Reader and Village Voice), Fighting in Southwest Louisiana (1991), and I Talk to Animals (1991). Friedman has served on the juries of the FIPA Film Festival in Biarritz, France, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, and the Visions du Réel Film Festival in Nyon, Switzerland.