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Helen Whitney is an American producer, director and writer of documentaries and feature films that have aired onPBS,HBO,ABC andNBC.

Whitney's subjects have includedyouth gangs, the 1996 American presidential candidates, aTrappistmonastery in Massachusetts, theMcCarthy Era in the United States,Pope John Paul II, and the late photographerRichard Avedon.

Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero was a PBS two-hour television special on the9/11 attacks, which explored the spiritual aftershocks of this event. Whitney's film,The Mormons, was a four-hour PBS series and the first collaboration between the PBS programsAmerican Experience andFrontline.

Whitney's filmForgiveness: A Time to Love & A Time to Hate examines the power, limitations—and in rare cases—the dangers of forgiveness through stories ranging from personal betrayal to international truth and reconciliation commissions. This three-hour series aired on PBS in April 2011.

Whitney's 1982ABC NewsCloseup documentary about the McCarthy Era,American Inquisition, provoked alibel suit brought by journalistVictor Lasky. Whitney and ABC News were defended byFirst Amendment lawyerFloyd Abrams. The court ruled in favor of Whitney and ABC News. Abrams remarked, "we won and the broadcast was totally vindicated."

In her feature film work, Whitney has directed actors such asLindsay Crouse,Austin Pendleton,Blair Brown,Brenda Fricker, andDavid Strathairn.

Her films have received anOscar nomination, theAlfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award, anEmmy Award and theGeorge Foster Peabody Award.

Whitney grew up in New York City, where she attended theChapin School.^[1] She received a BA in English literature fromSarah Lawrence College in 1965 and a master's degree inVictorian literature from theUniversity of Chicago in 1967.

Beginning in 1982, following her acceptance by theSundance Institute, Whitney wrote and directed several dramatic features for television.

In 2011, following the release of her two-part PBS documentaryForgiveness: A Time To Love & A Time To Hate, Whitney wrote a companion book to the film with the same title and a foreword by the Dalai Lama.

Whitney has delivered keynote addresses and lectures atYale University, theUniversity of California Berkeley,Pomona College, theHarvard Divinity School, theIliff School of Theology in Denver,Bellarmine University, theJohn Jay College of Criminal Justice,Syracuse University, theLouisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Roanoke College. In 2012, she presented theWilliam Belden Noble Lectures atHarvard University.

She has also spoken at theCorcoran Gallery of Art, theMinneapolis Institute of Art, theScottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, theCathedral of the Assumption inLouisville, KY, and theNational Cathedral in Washington, D.C,

• William Belden Noble Lectures at Memorial Church, Harvard University, 2012
• Flagler College Convocation Address for the class of 2012, St. Augustine, Florida
• The Luce Lecture at Boston University, 2007
• The Smith-Pettit Lecture on Mormonism, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2007

• Dixie State University
• Brigham Young University
• University of Utah
• Utah Valley University
• Utah State University
• The Studios of Key West
• Stanford University

As a 2009Woodrow Wilson scholar, Whitney has taught atFlagler College,Roanoke College and St. Mary's College.

• Film Forum, board member and chairman of the board, 1986–1991
• New York Women in Film and Television, board member
• City Church of New York, founding member

• Helen Whitney on BlogTalk Radio about her book ForgivenessArchived 2012-11-02 at theWayback Machine
• helenwhitney.com
• Helen Whitney atIMDb

• American documentary filmmakers
• Living people
• Chapin School (Manhattan) alumni
• Sarah Lawrence College alumni
• University of Chicago alumni

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