Matt Shaw’s filmmaking is centered in a process of looking and listening that engages conversation, research, and solitude. Working primarily with 16mm, his films share an interest in local history and the relationship between humans and other species. Increasingly the films come from a devotional practice of walking into the woods and fields, or alongshore near home. Questions of history and contemporary practices persist but do not act as a primary guide. Objetive knowledge drops away for the experience of the moment of looking and listening.

He received a BA in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic and a MFA in Moving Image from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His films have been shown worldwide and supported by LEF Foundation, Maine Arts Commission, Arteles Creative Center, the Anahata Foundation, and a Flaherty Film Seminar Fellowship. He works as a bookseller at Blue Hill Books, as an Adjunct Faculty at College of the Atlantic, and serves on the board of the Morgan Bay Zendo.