Ellen Spiro

American film director

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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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* Fixing the Future (2010–2012)
* Body of War (2007)
* Troop 1500 (2005)
* Are the Kids Alright? (2003)
* Atomic Ed and the Black Hole (2002)
* Roam Sweet Home (1996)
* Greetings From Out Here (1993)
* Diana's Hair Ego (1991)
* Women on the Line: The Effect of Deindustrialization on Women in Buffalo (1988)

## References

[edit]

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.

## External links

[edit]

* Ellen Spiro at IMDb
* Ellen Spiro in the Video Data Bank
* Ellen Spiro at Women Make Movies

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States
* Norway
* Poland

Artists|

* ULAN
* Museum of Modern Art