Biography

Jeffrey M. Togman is an American filmmaker and political scientist. He has directed three award-winning documentaries and he has written about a wide range of issues in the field of political science.

His most recent documentary, Mayor Mohamed, tells the story of Mohamed Khairullah, a Muslim-American immigrant who fights the forces of Islamophobia in the United States while simultaneously risking his life to bring humanitarian relief into Syria, his country of origin. The film had its world premiere at the Brooklyn Film Festival and its international premiere at the Arabisches Filmfestival in Germany. The film won a Special Jury Award at the Montclair Film Festival, where executive director Tom Hall said, "Mayor Mohamed explores the fragility of our democratic values with dignity and keen insight into the issues that frame our collective identity." The film was acquired by the Hollywood distribution company Freestyle Digital Media and is available on Amazon, iTunes, YouTube Movies, Google Play, and other platforms.

Togman's documentary We're Not Blood follows his own search for his birth parents, and explores broader issues of the politics of adoption in the United States. The film had its world premiere at the San Francisco Documentary Festival and its international premiere at the Portobello Film Festival in London. The film won the Best Dramatic Documentary Feature Award at the Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival. BBC Radio called We're Not Blood, "Absolutely extraordinary ... an amazing story." The film was broadcast on the Mexican public television series DOC 360° on Canal Once.

His first feature film Home tells the story of Sheree Farmer, a mother of six who is trying to leave public housing and buy her own home. The film had its world premiere at the SilverDocs/AFI Documentary Festival (now AFI Docs), where it won a Special Jury Recognition Award. Home was also an official selection of the Margaret Mead Film Festival. The New York Times called Home a "marvelously revealing documentary about the psychology of poverty." The film aired on the Sundance Channel. It was distributed by Magnolia Pictures and streamed on Netflix.

Togman is a long-time member of the faculty at Seton Hall University, where he is Professor of Political Science and Film. His book "The Ramparts of Nations" is a comparative study of immigration politics in France and the United States over the second half of the twentieth century. After completing his bachelor's degree at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany, Professor Togman did his graduate work at New York University (NYU), where he studied political science, anthropology, and history, and earned a Ph.D. in Politics.
- IMDb mini biography by: J Togman