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Ellen Spiro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ellen Spiro
Spiro in 2016
Born
New Brunswick, New Jersey, US
Parent(s)Jack and Marilyn Spiro of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Ellen Spiro is an American documentary filmmaker. She is a producer and director of the television documentary Are the Kids Alright?, which won an Emmy Award in 2005.[1]

Spiro is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where she has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in documentary, experimental film, and music film production in the Department of Radio-TV-Film.[2] She is also a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley.[2]

Career

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Spiro's work grew out of the AIDS activist movement and tradition of grassroots video activism. Her early work was shot on a compact Sony palmcorder and highlighted gay and lesbian stories.[3] One of her earliest award-winning works, Diana's Hair Ego, was the first small format video to be broadcast on national television.[3] Her work was presented twice in the Museum of Modern Art.

Spiro created the 10 Under 10 Film Festival in Austin, TX.[4]

In 2006, Spiro was awarded an artist's residency at the Bellagio Center, sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, in Bellagio, Italy.[5] She worked with Phil Donahue on Body of War, a film about paralyzed Iraq War veteran Tomas Young, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won a 'People's Choice Award' and the 'Audience Award for Best Documentary' at the Hamptons International Film Festival.[6] It was shortlisted for nomination for an Academy Award in 2007.[7] In December, Body of War was named Best Documentary of 2007 by the National Board of Review.[8]

She was recognized by students as one of the top 10 professors at the University of Texas in 2018.[9]

Films

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References

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  1. ^ "2005 Lone Star EMMY Awardees | National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences – Lone Star". Retrieved 2021-02-21.
  2. ^ a b "Visting Professor – Ellen Rae Spiro from the Dept of Radio-TV-Film at Univ Texas - Department of Film & Media UC Berkeley". filmmedia.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  3. ^ a b Lebow, Alisa (1993). "Lesbians Make Movies". Cinéaste. 20 (2): 18–23. ISSN 0009-7004. JSTOR 23804414.
  4. ^ Lewis, Anne S. Spiro's Experiment: The Austin Film Society Documentary Tour: 10 Under 10 and Its First Five Years. The Austin Chronicle. 2007-5-4.
  5. ^ "The Bellagio Center Residency Program". The Rockefeller Foundation. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  6. ^ 2007 Hamptons International Film Festival Awards Archived 2007-10-29 at the Wayback Machine Hamptons International Film Festival official website. Retrieved on 10/29/07.
  7. ^ Melidonian, Teni. 15 Docs Move Ahead in 2007 Oscar Race Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences official website. 2007-11-19. Retrieved on 2007-12-3.
  8. ^ National Board of Review of Motion Pictures :: Awards Archived 2007-12-11 at the Wayback Machine National Board of Review official website. Retrieved on 01/02/08.
  9. ^ "Top 10 Professors at the UT Austin - OneClass Blog". OneClass. Retrieved 2021-02-23.

10. "Author: Ellen Spiro." The Scholar & Feminist Online. Retrieved 6 Mar. 2024.

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