Anne Aghion (born 1960) is a French-American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

maker. She is a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

, a Mac Dowell Colony Fellow and a

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

Bellagio Center Fellow. In 2005, she won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for her

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

'' In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies''. In 2009, her film '' My Neighbor My Killer'' was Official Selection of the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

and a nominee for Best Documentary at the

Gotham Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

. Her new film,
Turbulence
', twelve years in the making, is completed in 2024.

Filmmaking career

Aghion is best known for her

s on post-genocide

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. Her feature film '' My Neighbor My Killer'', an official selection at the

in 2009, poses the question of "How do you make it right again?" after the end of the genocide. This film as well as the three installments of the Gacaca trilogy are the result of nearly ten years of footage gathered in a small rural community in Rwanda. In Aghion's first Rwanda film '' Gacaca, Living Together Again In Rwanda?'', the first installment of the Gacaca series, a trilogy she made on the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda, Anne Aghion closely examines the Gacaca courts, a citizen-based justice system that aims to try the crimes of the

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

. The proceedings would occur on grass – "Gacaca" in

Kinyarwanda Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and the national language of Rwanda. It is a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is also spoken in adjacent parts of the Democratic Republic of the ...

– where anyone who had a denouncement against the accused would be free to speak. If no one accused a prisoner, then that prisoner would be freed. '' In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies'', the second film of the trilogy, chronicles the release of a suspect in his community and how victims and suspects slowly learn how to live together. The third installment of her Rwanda series, '' The Notebooks of Memory'', was released in 2009 and gives an account of the beginning of the Gacaca trials. It focuses on the local citizen-judges' examination of testimonies from both the survivors and those accused of the crimes. The Gacaca films have won numerous awards and gained international fame. They have also been widely used by

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

s for educational and training purposes, and have been screened to officials, victims and prisoners in Rwanda. On a grant of the National Science Foundation Antarctic artist and writer program, Aghion peregrinated to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, where she filmed the feature-length, '' Ice People''. In ''Ice People'', she filmed the lives of

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

s and

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was ...

professors Allan Ashworth and Adam Lewis and the

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is ...

staff over four months. The scientists, accompanied by two undergraduate students, researched fossils of ancient specimens as they sought to uncover the climatic evolution of the world's coldest continent. The film premiered at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...

in April 2008 and was shown at the Independence Night Film of the

Film Society of Lincoln Center Film at Lincoln Center (FLC), previously known as the Film Society of Lincoln Center (FSLC) until 2019,Aridi, Sara (April 28, 2019).. ''The New York Times''. nytimes.com. Retrieved April 29, 2019. is a nonprofit organization based in New York Cit ...

in 2008. Her first film, '' Se Le Movió El Piso (The Earth Moved Under Him)—A Portrait of Managua'', was shot in the skid row of

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

. The film gives viewers an inside look in the life of

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

n slum dwellers as they recount the numerous obstacles they have had to overcome in their lives. Aghion is a member of Film Fatales women's independent filmmaker collective.

Newest film

In 2024, Aghion finished her 7th film, which has been 12 years in the making. The film, called
Turbulence
', tackles the following question : How do we overcome the heartbreaks, sorrow and traumas we endure or witness, and come out whole? In her award-winning film career, Anne Aghion has traveled the world and borne witness to the lives of people who have survived the most extreme circumstances. In ''Turbulence'', she grapples with the shadows cast over her own life — losing her mother when she was a child, and her father’s memories of life during the Holocaust. Through a series of tender, honest and visually stunning cinematic letters to her mother, she recounts her sometimes shocking odyssey in search of resolution and peace. The film, written, directed and produced by Anne Aghion, is made in association with Arte France - La Lucarne, and with the participation of the French Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, Procirep & Angoa, Jewish Story Partners, and New York State Council on the Arts.

Biography and early career

Aghion lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Before becoming a filmmaker, Aghion held various posts at ''

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 ...

'' Paris bureau and the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France, for international English-speaking readers. It published under the name ''International Herald Tribune'' starting in 1967, but its ...

''. Prior to her debut as director and producer of her own films, she worked as a videographer, as well as production and post-production manager. Aghion earned a Bachelor of Arts ''Magna Cum Laude'' in

Arab Language Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and Literature from

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York, and following her studies, lived in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, for two years.

Awards

Aghion won an

in 2005 for her

'' In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies''. '' My Neighbor My Killer'' was an Official Selection of the

in 2009, nominated for Best Documentary at the

. It was screened at the 2009

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

International Film Festival at the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

in New York where Aghion received the Néstor Almendros Award (named for the Oscar-winning

Néstor Almendros Néstor Almendros Cuyás, (30 October 1930 – 4 March 1992) was a Spanish cinematographer. He was one of the most highly appraised contemporary cinematographers, having a working collaboration with filmmakers François Truffaut, Éric Ro ...

) for courage in filmmaking. It also was Best Documentary at the Montreal Black Festival. Aghion also won a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Fellini Prize for '' Gacaca, Living Together Again In Rwanda?'' Ice People screened at the San Francisco Film Festival in 2008 and at the Independence Film Night of the

. In 1996, her first documentary '' Se le movió el piso: A portrait of Managua'' won the Coral Award for "Best Non-Latin American Documentary on Latin America" at the

Havana Film Festival The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Latin American filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as ''Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana,'' and in English as International Festiv ...

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. Aghion is also a recipient of the prestigious

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, the Mac Dowell Colony Fellowship and the

Rockefeller foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

's Bellagio Center Fellowship. She has received significant praise for her work, which has been seen all over the world and is part of the collection of a great number of international university libraries. Aghion is also a sought-after speaker and teacher and has been a jury for various festivals and events.

Filmography

* '' Se le movió el piso: A portrait of Managua'' (1995) * '' Gacaca, Living Together Again In Rwanda?'' (2002) * '' In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies'' (2004) * '' Ice People'' (2008) * '' The Notebooks of Memory'' (2009) * '' My Neighbor, My Killer'' (2009) * ''

Turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...

'' (2024)

References

External links

Official website

Official Gacaca Films website

Official Ice People website

Official Turbulence website
*
Anne Aghion
at

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

Biography of Anne Aghion at The Women's College Coalition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aghion, Anne 1960 births Living people American documentary film directors French documentary film directors News & Documentary Emmy Award winners Barnard College alumni Film directors from Paris The New York Times journalists The New York Times corporate staff Date of birth missing (living people) French emigrants to the United States French documentary film producers American women documentary filmmakers French women film directors French women documentary filmmakers