Greg Barker is an American filmmaker and producer. In 2011, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' described Barker as “a filmmaker of artistic and political consequence.”
Previous films include ''
Sergio'' (short-listed in 2010 for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, winner of the Best Editing Award at the
2009 Sundance Film Festival
The 2009 Sundance Film Festival was held during January 15, 2009 until January 25 in Park City, Utah. It was the 25th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival.
Awards
*Grand Jury Prize: Documentary - '' We Live in Public''
*Grand Jury Prize: Drama ...
)
''Ghosts of Rwanda''(winner of the 2004
DuPont Columbia award and The
Robert F. Kennedy Award for International Reporting); ''
Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden'' (Grand Jury Prize Sundance Film Festival 2013, Winner of Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming); and ''
The Final Year'' (Toronto International Film Festival 2017).
Life and career
A native Californian, Barker earned a BA in economics from
George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
and a MSc in International Relations from The
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
.
He lived in London for most of his adult life, and became a freelance journalist and war correspondent, working with organizations such as
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
,
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
and
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
. He turned to filmmaking in 1998, and made a string of international films for the flagship
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
Frontline. Barker spent seven years researching the
Rwandan genocide
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...
, which resulted in the 2004 feature-length Frontline documentar
Ghosts of Rwanda which won numerous awards and established his reputation.
In 1998, Barker began working closely with the feature documentary producers
John Battsek of
Passion Pictures
Passion Pictures is a British film production company established by Andrew Ruhemann in 1987. The company has studios in London, Melbourne, Paris, Toronto, and New York City.
Film production
The company's core business is in commercial and anima ...
and
Julie Goldman of
Motto Pictures. Together they have made ''Sergio'', ''Koran By Heart'', ''
Manhunt'', ''Homegrown: The Counter-Terror Dilemma, and
The Final Year'' all of which Barker directed for
HBO Documentary Films
HBO Documentary Films is an American production and distribution company and a division of the cable television network HBO that produces non-fiction feature films and miniseries.
The division releases between 10 and 15 documentaries per year fo ...
.
He directed his first narrative feature ''
Sergio'' (2020) for Netflix. It premieres at Sundance Film Festival 2020.
Barker now lives in California and is married to the sopran
Harriet Fraser
Filmography (as director)
* ''The Survival of Saddam'' (2000)
* ''
The Commanding Heights'' (2001)
* ''Campaign Against Terror'' (2002)
* ''Ghosts of Rwanda'' (2004)
* ''The Age of AIDS'' (2006)
* ''Showdown with Iran'' (2007)
* ''
Sergio'' (2009)
* ''Koran By Heart'' (2011)
* ''
Manhunt'' (2013)
* ''
We Are the Giant'' (2014)
* ''Homegrown: The Counter-Terror Dilemma'' (2016)
* ''
The Final Year'' (2017)
* ''Legion of Brothers'' (2017)
* ''
Sergio'' (2020)
* ''The Longest War'' (2020)
* ''
White Coat Rebels'' (2021)
* ''
Ghosts of Beirut'' (2023)
References
* John Anderson (January 19, 2009
"Sergio" ''Variety'' Retrieved 18 March 2010
A War-Hardened American Filmmaker Delves Into Islam ''
NYTimes
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
*
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...
(January 17, 2009
"Greg Barker's 'Sergo" ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' Retrieved 18 March 2010
*
External links
*
*
Greg Barker WebsiteSilverbridge Productions Barker's production company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Greg
Living people
American documentary filmmakers
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Year of birth missing (living people)
C-SPAN people