LESLIE ZEMECKIS

A best-selling author, actress, and award-winning documentarian: Films include Behind the Burly Q, Bound by Flesh, Mabel, Mabel, Tiger Trainer. Grandes Horizontales, all streaming. Zemeckis is the author of Behind the Burly Q, (Amazon Editor’s pick), Goddess of Love Incarnate; the Life of Stripteuse Lili St. Cyr and Feuding Fan Dancers, (a SCIBA finalist for biography). She has acted alongside Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Mickey Rourke and Richard Lawson.

Zemeckis is the founder of “Stories Matter,” female storytellers mentoring future female storytellers in conjunction with SBIFF and ENTITY Magazine. Honored for her work inspiring women, Zemeckis was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2023 in part for “sharing and preserving stories of women who were once marginalized and stigmatized . . .”

The Medal is officially recognized by both Houses of Congress and is one of our nation’s most prestigious awards.