Chris Hegedus | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hegedus at the Montclair Film Festival 2016 | |
| Born | (1952-04-23)April 23, 1952 (age 73) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1970s–present |
| Spouse | |
| Website | http://www.phfilms.com/ |
Chris Hegedus (born April 23, 1952) is an Americandocumentary filmmaker. She and her husband, filmmakerD. A. Pennebaker, founded the companyPennebaker Hegedus Films.
Hegedus was nominated for anAcademy Award forThe War Room, a behind-the-scenes film about PresidentBill Clinton's 1992 campaign.[1] The film also won theNational Board of Review of Motion Pictures prize for Best Documentary.[1] In 2001, she was awarded theDirectors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement forStartup.com.[2] The film is a boom-bust story of two young internet entrepreneurs, co-produced with Jehane Noujaim. Hegedus was also the recipient ofCINE's Golden Eagle Award, anEmmy Award, and lifetime achievement awards from several organizations including the International Documentary Association.[3] Her films include the 2010 feature release,Kings of Pastry, about the legendary French pastry competition, theMeilleur Ouvrier de France.[4] In 2011, Hegedus received the Athena Film Festival Award for Exemplary Directing.
Hegedus studied Fine Arts at theHartford Art School and graduated in 1973 fromNova Scotia College of Art and Design in photography and experimental film making.[5] Afterward, she moved toAnn Arbor, Michigan, and began shooting films for theUniversity of Michigan Burn Center. In 1975, she moved to a loft in New York City and worked as a cinematographer on independent films including Lizzie Borden's feminist feature,Born in Flames.[6] The following year she began her first collaboration withD. A. Pennebaker as editor of the feature-length film,Town Bloody Hall, a chronicle of the legendary "battle of the sexes" betweenNorman Mailer,Germaine Greer and other feminists which took place in 1971 atThe Town Hall in New York City.[7] The film became the basis for the playThe Town Hall Affair byThe Wooster Group in 2017.[8]
In 1977, Hegedus, Pennebaker and Pat Powell co-directed and editedThe Energy War, a three-part special forPBS that focuses on the historic legislative battle to pass PresidentJimmy Carter's Energy Bill.[9] The film was cited by theKennedy School of Government as "one of the best films on government."
From this point on, Hegedus and Pennebaker became partners co-directing, shooting, and editing films – they married in 1982.[7] Together, they directed a host of films including:DeLorean, a profile of automobile entrepreneurJohn DeLorean as he develops his stainless steel gull-winged car in Northern Ireland;Rockaby, a play thatSamuel Beckett wrote specifically for their project with his muse, actressBillie Whitelaw; andMoon Over Broadway, a back-stage view ofCarol Burnett's tumultuous return to Broadway, which is cited byThe New York Times as a "NYT Critics' Pick."[10]
The company has devoted much of its creative energy towards short and feature-length films about music.[11] Their 1979 short ofRandy Newman's song "Baltimore" predatesMTV and was one of the templates of the music video format. In 1989, they released the theatrical feature101 forWarner Music. The film followed the popular English bandDepeche Mode and a bus full of fans across the country to their finalRose Bowl concert. Other music-related films include profiles of songwriterVictoria Williams,Branford Marsalis, andSuzanne Vega.[12]Searching For Jimi Hendrix features eleven musical acts, includingLos Lobos,Laurie Anderson,Chuck D, andRosanne Cash interpretingJimi Hendrix in their own styles.[13]
In 2000, forMiramax Films, Hegedus and Pennebaker directedOnly the Strong Survive, a soulful musical tribute withIsaac Hayes,Wilson Pickett,Rufus Thomas,Sam Moore,Mary Wilson ofThe Supremes,Jerry Butler and others.[14]Down From the Mountain, the 2001 companion concert film to theCoen brothers' release,O Brother, Where Art Thou?, features some of the most talentedbluegrass performers of our times, includingRalph Stanley,Emmylou Harris,Alison Krauss, andGillian Welch.[13]
Together with Nick Doob, Hegedus and Pennebaker filmed several specials forHBO, includingElaine Stritch at Liberty, which won a 2004Emmy Award for Best Music, Comedy or Variety Show; the comedyAssume the Position withRobert Wuhl; and a segment ofAddiction.[15][16]
For theSundance Channel, Hegedus filmedMichael Stipe,Bruce Springsteen and others for the 2004Vote For Change concert, and directedFox vs. Franken for Sundance'sFirst Amendment series.[17] In 2006, Hegedus theatrically released,Al Franken: God Spoke. Co-directed with Nick Doob, the film follows the political satiristAl Franken's personal transformation from comedy to politics.[18] Following the 2010 completion ofKings of Pastry, Hegedus and Pennebaker co-directed the live YouTube broadcast ofthe National's May 2010 benefit concert at theBrooklyn Academy of Music.[19]
In 2016 Hegedus directedUnlocking the Cage about animal rights attorneySteven M. Wise and theNonhuman Rights Project's legal challenge for personhood rights for chimpanzees. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival was nominated for an Emmy Award and broadcasts on HBO.
Hegedus has lectured on documentary film in colleges around the country. She taught film atYale University for eight years and received their Film Studies Award.[5]
Chris Hegedus andD. A. Pennebaker co-founded the companyPennebaker Hegedus Films.[20] The company is managed by Frazer Pennebaker who has served as the producer on all of their films since the mid-eighties.[20] In addition to his role as producer, Frazer oversees film distribution and sales for the company.[21]
Hegedus and Pennebaker's films are done in theDirect Cinema style. "Voice-of-God" narration is avoided, as are formal "Talking Head" interviews. A mobile hand-held camera and diegetic sound are also characteristic. Usually Direct Cinema films show us the "back stage", be it of the Rolling Stones as inGimme Shelter, or JFK inPrimary, or Bob Dylan. The stylistic concerns of Hegedus and Pennebaker place them in the legacy of Direct Cinema along with Robert Dew, Richard Leacock, and the Maysles brothers.[20]
