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Bryan Fogel

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Bryan Fogel
Born
Denver, Colorado, United States
Alma materUniversity of Colorado Boulder
Occupation(s)Director, Producer, Writer, Actor
Notable workIcarus
The Dissident
Jewtopia
Websitebryanfogel.com

Bryan Fogel is an American film director, producer, author, playwright, speaker and human rights activist, best known for the 2017 documentary Icarus, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards in 2018.

Early life and education

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Fogel was born in Denver, Colorado. He attended the Denver Jewish Day School.[1] He graduated from East High School and the University of Colorado Boulder.[2]

Career

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Fogel began his career in Hollywood pursuing stand-up comedy and acting.[3] He had a small part in the 2009 Disney movie Race to Witch Mountain.[4]

Fogel has given keynote speeches to organizations around the world including the Oslo Freedom Forum in 2019 and 2020 - Human Rights Foundation and has appeared on ABC Nightline, Charlie Rose, Seth Meyers, Joe Rogan, CNN, ESPN, Meet The Press, The View, NPR, BBC and has been featured in publications around the globe including The Guardian.[5] Fogel currently resides in Los Angeles.

Jewtopia

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Main article: Jewtopia (film)

Fogel developed, co-wrote, and initially starred in the play Jewtopia, an off-Broadway comedy about the dating lives of two young men seeking Jewish women, which was made into a feature film. The play opened in Los Angeles in 2003 and ran for 300 performances.[6] It moved on in 2004 to the off-Broadway Westside Theater in New York, where it ran for more than three years and over a thousand performances before closing in April 2007. It is one of the longest-running and fastest-recouping productions in Off-Broadway history.[7]

Fogel co-authored the book Jewtopia: The Chosen Guide for the Chosen People, with Sam Wolfson.[8] The book was published by Hachette Book Group and Fogel appeared on ABC's The View in support of the book.

Fogel directed, co-wrote and produced the feature film adaptation of Jewtopia, which was released in 2012. The film had its U.S. premiere as the opening night gala of the 13th Newport Beach International Film Festival.[9][10]

Icarus

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Main articles: Icarus (2017 film) and Doping in Russia

Fogel, as a lifelong cyclist, had followed Lance Armstrong’s rise and fall, in particular, his ability to evade doping detection. Fogel later connected with Russian scientist Grigory Rodchenkov, eventually preparing evidence and setting-up an interview for Rodchenkov at The New York Times.[11][5] The Times story, published in 2016, presaged Russia's ban from the Olympic Games in 2018, 2020 and 2022.[12]

Icarus, a film documenting these investigations, was described by The New York Times as "Illuminating"[13] with Variety magazine calling it "A game changing documentary."[14] Icarus premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award "The Orwell Award" and the first ever "Audience Choice" Award of Sundance Film Festival London. The film was acquired in a $5 million sale by Netflix[15] and launched globally on August 4, 2017. The film won Netflix its first Feature Documentary Oscar.[16]

The Dissident

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Main article: The Dissident

After Icarus, Fogel co-wrote, directed and produced the 2020 American documentary film The Dissident, which follows the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia's efforts to control international dissent. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2020 and was released on December 18, 2020, by Briarcliff Entertainment. Fogel's screenplay for The Dissident won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay award at the 73rd Writers Guild of America Awards in 2020 alongside Mark Monroe.[17] It also received a nomination for "Best Documentary" at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) in 2020, Fogel's second.[18]

Despite generally positive reviews, the film struggled to find a distributor for eight months and was not able to run on a large streaming platform. Fogel believed this was due to those platforms' fear of offending the Saudi Arabian government and possibly losing subscribers.[19][20][21]

Icarus: The Aftermath

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Fogel completed Icarus: The Aftermath in 2022, a follow-up to the Oscar-winning doc Icarus.[22] The film premiered that same year at the 49th Telluride Film Festival.[23]

Filmography

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Title Year Role
Jewtopia 2012 Writer, director, executive producer
Icarus 2017 Writer, director, producer
The Dissident [24][25] 2020 Writer, director, producer
Icarus: The Aftermath [26] 2022 Writer, director, producer

Awards

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Year Award Category Nominated Work Result Ref.
2017 Sundance Film Festival Documentary - Director Icarus Won [27]
Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize - The Orwell Award Won [28]
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Best Sports Documentary Won [29]
2018[a] Academy Awards Best Documentary Feature Won [30][16]
Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentaries Nominated [31]
BAFTA Awards Best Documentary Nominated [32]
Satellite Awards Best Documentary Film Nominated [33]
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program,
Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program,
Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special 		Nominated [34]
2020 Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Best Documentary Film The Dissident 4th place [35]
Detroit Film Critics Society Best Documentary Nominated [36]
2021[a] BAFTA Awards Best Documentary Nominated [37]
Writers Guild of America Awards Best Documentary Screenplay Won [38]
Dublin International Film Festival Special Jury Prize - Writer, Director Won [39]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Date is when the award was received, not necessarily the year of the film's theatrical exhibition.

References

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  1. ^ "Oscar winner Bryan Fogel, alumnus of Denver Jewish Day School, returns to school to talk about his Oscar and "Jewtopia" | YourHub".
  2. ^ "A busload of local actors make it big". 10 May 2007.
  3. ^ Thompson, Anne (2017-08-04). "How 'Icarus' Turned a Standup Comic Into an Investigative Journalist With a Netflix Deal". IndieWire. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  4. ^ "Disney Movie Club - Disney movies on Blu-ray + DVD". disneymovieclub.go.com.
  5. ^ a b Ingle, Sean (23 July 2017). "Icarus film finds more than Greek tragedy in Russia doping scandal". The Guardian. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  6. ^ "Jewish Journal, January 23, 2004 bruciate".
  7. ^ Playbill Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Choice of a Jew generation – Jewish Journal". jewishjournal.com. 26 October 2006.
  9. ^ "Newport Beach film fest: 'Jewtopia,' John Wayne and lots more". 25 April 2012.
  10. ^ ""Jewtopia" Kicks Off 13th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival". Archived from the original on 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
  11. ^ Ruiz, Rebecca R.; Schwirtz, Michael (12 May 2016). "Russian Insider Says State-Run Doping Fueled Olympic Gold". The New York Times.
  12. ^ "A timeline of Russia's state-sponsored Olympic doping scandal". The Washington Post. 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  13. ^ Jaworowski, Ken (3 August 2017). "Review: In 'Icarus,' Unexpectedly Exploring the Russian Doping Scandal". The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  14. ^ Debruge, Peter (20 January 2017). "Film Review: 'Icarus'". Variety Magazine. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  15. ^ "Sundance: Netflix Lands Russian Doping Documentary 'Icarus'". Variety Magazine. 24 January 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  16. ^ a b McNary, Dave. "Netflix Wins First Feature Documentary Oscar With 'Icarus'". Variety Magazine. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  17. ^ Writers Guild of America East (2021-03-21). 2021 Writers Guild Awards: "The Dissident" wins Documentary Screenplay. Retrieved 2024-08-21 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ "Khashoggi documentary and Palestinian film nominated for BAFTAs". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  19. ^ Sperling, Nicole (2020-12-24). "An Oscar Winner Made a Khashoggi Documentary. Streaming Services Didn't Want It". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  20. ^ Kilkenny, Katie (2020-12-23). "Bryan Fogel on Hollywood Reticence to Distribute 'The Dissident' and Companies Looking "the Other Way" on Human Rights Abuses". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  21. ^ Countryman, Eli (2021-01-14). "Bryan Fogel Discusses 'The Dissident' and the Entertainment Industry's Reluctance to Distribute It". Variety. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  22. ^ Rottenberg, Josh. "Telluride Winners and Losers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  23. ^ Linden, Sheri. "'Icarus: The Aftermath' Review: A Tense and Affecting Real-Life Sequel". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  24. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (22 February 2020). "Powerful new Khashoggi film hits its mark … but will audiences get to see it?". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2020-02-22 – via www.theguardian.com.
  25. ^ Zeitchik, Steven (23 January 2020). "A Jamal Khashoggi documentary could take the film world – and U.S.-Saudi relations – by storm". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  26. ^ Debruge, Peter (4 September 2022). "'Icarus: The Aftermath' Review: Doping Doc Sequel Zooms Out to Confront the Real Issue". Variety. Retrieved 2022-09-04 – via www.variety.com.
  27. ^ "Icarus received 6 major nominations in 2018, winning 1 award". Los Angeles Times. 2 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-02 – via www.latimes.com.
  28. ^ "Sundance Film Festival Awards: 'I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore' & 'Dina' Take Grand Jury Prizes". Sundance.org. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  29. ^ "2017: 2nd Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards – Winners". Critics Choice Association. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 2023-04-06 – via www.criticschoice.com.
  30. ^ "The 90TH Academy Awards 2018". Oscars. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 2023-03-31 – via oscars.org.
  31. ^ "70th Annual DGA Awards Honoring Outstanding Directorial Achievement". Directors Guild of America. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 2023-03-31 – via dga.org.
  32. ^ "Film Documentary in 2018". BAFTA. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 2023-04-03 – via bafta.org.
  33. ^ "2017 Winners". International Press Academy. Retrieved 2023-04-06 – via pressacademy.com.
  34. ^ "2018 - 70th Emmy Awards - Nominees and Winners". Emmys. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 2023-03-31 – via emmys.com.
  35. ^ Jorgenson, Todd (February 10, 2020). "DFW Film Critics Name Nomadland Best Picture of 2020". Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  36. ^ Jorgenson, Todd. "Detroit Film Critics Society Announces 2020 Nominations". Detroit Film Critics Society. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  37. ^ "Film Documentary in 2021". BAFTA. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-03 – via bafta.org.
  38. ^ "2021 Writers Guild Awards Winners Announced". WGA. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-21 – via wga.org.
  39. ^ Clarke, Donald (15 March 2021). "Pandemic movie wins top award at Dublin International Film Festival". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2021-03-15 – via irishtimes.com.
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