In hot pursuit of the ineffable.

Heath Cozens is an award-winning director drawn to the threads that connect us all—from the intimate to the infinite, the gritty to the transcendent. His work spans documentary and beyond, revealing strange beauty, profound humanity, and unexpected humor in subcultures, unsung heroes, and iconoclasts who define themselves—and sometimes reality itself—on their own terms.

Richard Whittaker of The Austin Chronicle described Cozens’ work as “fearless, challenging, and touching in ways you will never see coming,” while J Hurtado of Screen Anarchy called Doglegs “by turns heart-wrenching and hilarious…” Jennifer Matsui of Counterpunch praised his ability to “alter perceptions at the molecular level,” and The Hollywood Reporter called his breakout film “always involving… deeply moving.” It is this passion to disrupt and engage—sometimes with raw, unfiltered mayhem, other times through transcendent beauty—that defines his approach.

Cozens’ work spans theatrical, broadcast, digital, and educational platforms, with screenings at Hot Docs, Fantastic Fest, and the Japan Prize, alongside global releases. His films have been featured on BBC, VICE, The Guardian, The Economist, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Reuters, and NHK.

His feature documentary Doglegs—an incendiary portrait of disabled pro wrestlers in Tokyo—premiered at Hot Docs 2015, won Best Director for Documentary Features at Fantastic Fest, and ran theatrically in Japan for six months. His longitudinal web series Family Strong, captured remotely during COVID, received major industry recognition, including five Telly Awards and four Communicator Awards. He also co-directed and shot Only I Can Hear, a coming-of-age documentary about teens discovering identity as CODA (Children of Deaf Adults), which won the prestigious Japan Prize for Documentary.

Projects in development:

GAIJIN: THE LONG WAY HOME

Spanning 25 years, this epic hybrid documentary traces the improbable life of Alfred Weinzierl—a towering Bavarian expat in Osaka, Japan, of mysterious origins, who emerged as a savior for gaijin (foreigners) in trouble—for nothing more than the price of a train ticket. And maybe a beer. Or twenty.

In the neon alleys and dive bars of Japan’s second city, he was a legend. They called him “The Equalizer.”

Alfred projected strength, street smarts, and righteous defiance—testing just how far bravado and a translator’s license could take him. But behind the all-powerful, hard-drinking, knight-like protector facade lay something more fragile: deep instability, addiction, and the desperate loneliness of a child.

Blending raw vérité, stylized dramatizations, and deeply personal testimony, Gaijin is a tragicomic chronicle of one man’s wild and broken quest for love, justice, and a place to call home—told through the eyes of a filmmaker who finds his own reflection in the wreckage. At its heart, it’s also a love story: about the one that got away, and the quiet hope that redemption might still be possible.

Gaijin is conceived as a standalone feature with potential to expand into a limited series.

EX LUNA

Arturo Campos was the kind of engineer who could help save Apollo 13 and never even mention it to his daughters. A Mexican-American pioneer, he embodied the stoic brilliance at NASA’s core. And then, like so many, his story was forgotten.

Now, change is in the air. As NASA prepares to send humans back to the Moon—and onward to Mars—engineers resurrect Campos in mannequin form for one final task: a translunar mission to gather life-saving data for humanity’s next great leap.

As Artemis rises into an uncertain future, quiet hands move history forward.

With rare access at a transformative moment in spaceflight, Ex Luna follows the engineers carrying Campos’ legacy into the future—preserving human life at the edge of the unknown.

Co-directed with seven-time Emmy-winner Michael Werner.

BEYOND REAL

What if reality isn’t real? Beyond Real rips through space, time, and matter to expose a mind-shattering truth: everything you see is just an illusion in consciousness.

Anchoring this cinematic odyssey is revolutionary cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman, whose explosive theory threatens to upend modern science. Through cutting-edge mathematics and quantum physics—expressed through hypnotic cinematography and hyperdimensional CGI—this documentary pulls viewers into a waking dream where nothing, not even reality itself, can be trusted.