Laura Poitras
Biography
Laura Poitras is an American documentary filmmaker and producer. Born in Boston in 1964, she studied with experimental filmmakers at the San Francisco Art Institute and later earned a degree from The New School before settling in New York to make films. Her early documentary Flag Wars, co-directed with Linda Goode Bryant, won a Peabody Award and played on PBS. Her film My Country, My Country, an Academy Award nominee about Iraqis under U.S. occupation, and The Oath form parts of a trilogy with Citizenfour (2014), her Academy Award-winning film about Edward Snowden. Risk (2016) examined Julian Assange. Poitras also won a George Polk Award, contributed to a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, and received a MacArthur Fellowship. Her later film All the Beauty and the Bloodshed won the Golden Lion at Venice and a Peabody Award. She helped create Field of Vision and The Intercept.
62years old
Turns 63 on February 2in 84 days
- Born Boston
- Star sign: AquariusThe sign runs January 20 to February 18
Movie Career
- Films
- 3
- Career span
- 2 years2014 to 2016
Every film, newest first
- 2016All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. StoneIMDb rating 7.3
- 2016RiskIMDb rating 6.3
- 2014CitizenfourIMDb rating 8.0
Genres
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Early training
Poitras studied with experimental filmmakers Ernie Gehr and Janis Crystal Lipzin at the San Francisco Art Institute. She moved to New York in 1992 to pursue filmmaking, and in 1996 earned a bachelor's degree from The New School for Public Engagement.
A first
Poitras's film premiered on September 3, 2022, at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion. It was the second documentary to take Venice's top prize, following Sacro GRA in 2013.
Beyond film
Poitras filmed, edited and produced Channel 4's 2013 Alternative Christmas Message, the broadcaster's substitute for the Queen's Royal Christmas Message, featuring Edward Snowden.
Getting ready for a role
Poitras chose not to appear on camera in Citizenfour, saying she came from a filmmaking tradition in which the camera is her tool for documenting things.
Laura Poitras movies on Netflix
Most often with
Six actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Amy Goodman's page
Julian Assange's page
Edward Snowden's page
Glenn Greenwald's page
Jeremy Scahill's page
Jacob Appelbaum's page
Awards
Twelve awards and honors from 2007 to 2022, two of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | |||
| 2015 | Best Documentary Feature Film | Citizenfour | Won |
| Venice Film Festival | |||
| 2022 | Golden Lion | All the Beauty and the Bloodshed | Won |
| Other honors | |||
| 2014 | Carl von Ossietzky Medal | Won | |
| 2014 | Medal Carl von Ossietzky | Won | |
| 2014 | Pulitzer Prize for Public Service | Won | |
| 2014 | Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize | Won | |
| 2013 | EFF Award | Won | |
| 2013 | George Polk Award | Won | |
| 2012 | MacArthur Fellows Program | Won | |
| 2010 | Anonymous Was A Woman Award | Won | |
| 2007 | Guggenheim Fellowship | Won | |
| Marion Dönhoff Award | Won | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.