David Usui is an award-winning New York-based filmmaker, whose work is rooted in an observational, intimate, character-driven approach. His latest feature, Been Here Stay Here, follows a Christian fishing community on Virginia’s Tangier Island as they face the slow disappearance of their home. The film premiered at IDFA and has screened at festivals including DCEFF, Docaviv, AFS Doc Days, Martha’s Vineyard, Annapolis, and Princeton.

He co-directed In Transit alongside the legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles—a lyrical portrait of travelers aboard Amtrak’s Empire Builder—which won the Special Jury Prize for Best Feature Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival. His earlier cinematography and directorial work has appeared on PBS, ITVS, The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and VICE.

In 2009, he co-founded Lost & Found Films, a production company that crafts visually rich and emotionally grounded nonfiction films. He studied philosophy and human ecology at Western Washington University and later taught documentary filmmaking as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.



He works as a director, producer, cinematographer, editor, and story consultant.