Edet Belzberg is a documentary

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

. She won a 2005

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

Biography

Belzberg received a B.A. in 1991 from the

University of Colorado, Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado s ...

and an M.A. in 1997 from the

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) is the international affairs and public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university located in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City. ...

. She received the Columbia University School of Journalism's John M. Patterson Enterprise Award in 1997 for her documentary short ''A Master Violinist'', about a Chinese political refugee. With assistance from the Soros Documentary Fund (now the Sundance Documentary Fund), Belzberg made her first feature film ''

Children Underground ''Children Underground'' is an American 2001 documentary film directed and produced by Edet Belzberg. The film which is set in Bucharest, Romania, explores the lives of five children who are shown fighting, abusing themselves, and becoming addic ...

'', a documentary about five homeless

street children Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids or street child; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and polic ...

who lived in a subway system. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

(2001), and received the Best Documentary Film Award from the

International Documentary Association International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmm ...

(2001). ''Children Underground'' was also nominated for a 2001 Academy Award and was one of the first recipients of the IFP Anthony Radziwill Documentary Prize. In 2005, she received the MacArthur "Genius" award. She lives in New York City, where she has been a frequent guest lecturer on urban reporting and documentary filmmaking at the Columbia School of Journalism, and has also taught at NYU. Belzberg's 2008 documentary, '' The Recruiter'' (originally titled ''An American Soldier''), premiered at the

2008 Sundance Film Festival The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was '' In Bruges'' and the closing night film was '' CSNY Déjà Vu''. Fil ...

. It portrays a top U.S. army recruiter and his relationship with four of his recruits as they complete high school and go through basic training. In 2014 she directed ''Watchers of the Sky''. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2014 in the U.S. Documentary Competition. It won the U.S. Documentary Editing Award and the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Achievement for Use of Animation. It went on to win the Jonathan Daniels Award at the Monadnock International Film Festival, and the Ostrovsky Award for Best Documentary Film at the Jerusalem Film Festival. After its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Music Box Films acquired the US distribution rights.

Director filmography

* ''A Master Violinist'' (1997, short) * ''

'' (2001) * ''Gymnast'' (2005) * ''Time Piece'' (2006) ( Bobby's Tale segment) * '' The Recruiter'' (2007) * '' Watchers of the Sky'' (2014)

Producer filmography

* ''Anthem'' (1997) (associate producer) * ''

'' (2001) * ''Gymnast'' (2005) * ''The Recruiter'' (2007)

References

External links

*
Sundance "Meet the Artist" video

NPR interview and clip from Children Underground
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belzberg, Edet School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni MacArthur Fellows Living people University of Colorado alumni American film directors American documentary filmmakers American women documentary filmmakers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women