David L. Cunningham
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David L. Cunningham (born February 24, 1971) is an American documentarian and
filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
. Besides his documentary credits in more than 40 countries, Cunningham has also directed several feature films including '' To End All Wars'' (2001) and the TV miniseries '' The Path to 9/11'' (2006). Cunningham is represented by the
United Talent Agency United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. , the company has more than 1,400 global employees. ...
.


Background and early work

As a child, Cunningham traveled around the world visiting orphanages, refugee camps, and many other isolated locations with his parents in their work with NGOs with the specific purpose of introducing people to Jesus. His parents, Loren and Darlene Cunningham, ordained ministers in the Pentecostal Assemblies of God denomination, are the founders of
Youth With A Mission Youth With A Mission (typically shortened YWAM, generally pronounced ) is an interdenominational Christian mission organization with a focus on missionary work and training for Christian missions. Founded by American missionary Loren Cunningha ...
(YWAM) and the University of the Nations, an international, interdenominational Christian organization with campuses in over 100 countries with a special emphasis on education for the developing nations. These childhood experiences would greatly influence Cunningham's world view as a filmmaker. Cunningham studied film and graduated from both the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
and University of the Nations (
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
,
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, and
Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
campuses). Cunningham traveled with his father and took the first American crew to the remote
Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands ( ; Pitkern: '), officially Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, are a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the ...
to shoot his documentary ''Pitcairn: Mutineers in Paradise''. His earlier films took him to
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 ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, and
Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...
. After filming parts of documentaries in over 40 countries, Cunningham made his feature film debut with '' Beyond Paradise''. The film was a critical and commercial hit in the Pacific Region playing for three months in theatres in Hawaii. In March 2000,
Youth With A Mission Youth With A Mission (typically shortened YWAM, generally pronounced ) is an interdenominational Christian mission organization with a focus on missionary work and training for Christian missions. Founded by American missionary Loren Cunningha ...
students donated $14,000 in seed money toward his $14 million independent film '' To End All Wars'' (p 176) Shot in Hawaii, Thailand, and Scotland, the film tells the true story of WWII allied prisoners in a POW camp in Thailand who secretly form a “jungle university” in the camp morgue. Starring
Kiefer Sutherland Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland (born 21 December 1966) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox drama series ''24 (TV series), 24'' (2001–2010, 20 ...
and
Robert Carlyle Robert Carlyle (born 14 April 1961) is a Scottish actor. His film work includes: '' Trainspotting'' (1996), '' The Full Monty'' (1997), '' Ravenous'' and ''The World Is Not Enough'' (both 1999), '' There's Only One Jimmy Grimble'' (2000), '' ...
, it performed notably well at film festivals including
Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado, during Labor Day, Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 51st Telluride Film Festival, 51st edition took place on August 30–September ...
,
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
, Heartland Film Festival,
Hawaii International Film Festival Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...
, and Mill Valley Film Festival). The film was later picked up for distribution by Goldcrest and 20th Century Fox. Since that time, Cunningham has made a number of movies, including the telefilm '' The Path to 9/11''. He shot the film ''After...'' under Moscow's
Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...
in the secret tunnels built by
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
. Cunningham is directing and producing '' The Wind & the Reckoning'', a fictionalized account of the Koolau Rebellion in Hawaii. Cunningham is a member of the Travelers' Century Club, whose members can document visits to over 100 countries, and of the
Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...
.


The Path to 9/11

Cunningham directed the ABC
miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...
'' The Path to 9/11'', which dramatized terrorist activities and U.S. government responses from the
1993 World Trade Center bombing The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by Ramzi Yousef and associates against the United States on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in Manhat ...
through the events of 9/11. The film was controversial for its misrepresentation of events and people as well as last minute editing before the broadcast. Despite ABC spending $40 million on the project, ''The Path to 9/11'' was beat in the ratings by an NFL game. ''The Path to 9/11'' was nominated for 7 Emmys. ''The Path to 9/11'' was criticized by the Clintons for its inaccuracy in the handling of terrorist
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
. The docu-drama was praised by conservative writer Davis Hanson as being "a well-crafted dramatic interpretation", and condemned by critics for scenes which portrayed events they claim never occurred, and supported a story line which could lead viewers to incorrect conclusions. Official promotions of the film made varying claims about its factual basis: Fox TV on Sept 6, 2006, quoted the producers as saying the show was based "solely and completely on the 9/11 Commission report." However, On ABC's ''Path to 9/11'' blog, Cunningham emphasized: "This is a movie or more specifically a docudrama. Meaning, it is a narrative movie based on facts and dramatized with actors." Max Blumenthal reported in ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'' that Cunningham's ''Path to 9/11'' had been heavily promoted by right wing activist David Horowitz and the conservative Liberty Film Festival and that ABC CEO David Iger had initiated a last-minute investigation and edit of the film. ''The New York Times'' reported that Mr. Platt [the producer of ''Path to 9/11'' and ''Hope Hartman'', a spokeswoman for ABC, said "the political and religious affiliations of the two men (Cunningham and Nowrasteh, the writer) had nothing to do with and did not influence the mini-series in any way."Edward Wyatt, New York Times
/ref> Nowrasteh defended Cunningham in an ''OpinionJournal.com'' column, arguing that criticism of the Cunningham's association with his father's Christian mission was akin to McCarthyism, in which "the merest hint of a connection to communism sufficed to inspire dark accusations." To date, ABC has not released the mini-series to DVD. In 2007,
Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...
said while he's "not vouching for its accuracy," he thinks it is "a dangerous precedent, to allow a movie to be buried". A 2008 documentary by John Ziegler and producer
David Bossie David Norman Bossie (born November 1, 1965) is an American political activism, political activist. Since 2000, he has been president and chairman of conservative advocacy group Citizens United (organization), Citizens United and in 2016, Bossie w ...
of Citizens United premiered a documentary co-produced, written and directed by Ziegler entitled ''Blocking The Path to 9/11''. Jeffrey Ressner of ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
'', wrote ''Blocking 'The Path to 9/11'' mirrored ''The Path to 9/11'' because it "raises even more questions and adds its own set of disconnected dots to this broadcasting dilemma".


The Film Institute

The Film Institute (TFI), a "non-profit association geared toward educating filmmakers from the developing world, linking like-minded filmmakers, and focusing resources and talent for social change", was established by Cunningham and several University of the Nations alumni in 2004. Though ABC asserted that the network itself was the source of funding for ''The Path to 9/11'', TFI became embroiled in the controversy when several internet bloggers claimed it funded or influenced the movie. According to TFI member Mark Harris' speech at a Latin American
Youth With A Mission Youth With A Mission (typically shortened YWAM, generally pronounced ) is an interdenominational Christian mission organization with a focus on missionary work and training for Christian missions. Founded by American missionary Loren Cunningha ...
conference: "One goal of TFI is to fast-track U of N School of Digital Film interns, placing them within the film industry, so that they can begin to tell the stories that need to be told and help make a difference through film". Harris also stated that he was a volunteer coordinating TFI's interns at the time. He rebutted the assertion that TFI initiated or funded The Path to 9/11.


Hakani

In 2008, Cunningham directed '' Hakani: A Survivor's Story'' telling the story of an 8-year-old boy's rescue of his little sister ("Hakani") who, because of birth defects, was to be put to death by their tribe in the Amazon. The film was shot with members from 8 Amazonian tribes. In Brazil, the film has played a part in a controversial indigenous peoples' rights campaign. In 2008, the Brazilian government officials said "the missionaries are exaggerating and exploiting the issue to justify their attempts to convert Indians to Christianity". In 2009,
Survival International Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969, a London based charity that campaigns for the collective rights of Indigenous, tribal and uncontacted peoples. The organisation's campaigns generally focus on tribal people ...
released a statement that the film is "faked, that the earth covering the children's faces is actually chocolate cake, and that the film's claim that infanticide among Brazilian Indians is widespread is false." Survival International has pointed out that the Hakani film is being used by Youth with a Mission to facilitate their ministries in the area.


Filmography

* ''The Pitcairn Story: Mutineers in Paradise'' (1991) * ''Target World'' (1992) * ''Passport to the World'' (1993) * ''Pacific Mercy Ships'' (1995) * ''Walkabout Australia'' (1996) (V) * ''
Baja 1000 The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula, with a course of up to about 850 or more miles. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from ...
'' (1996) * '' Beyond Paradise'' (1998) * ''The Dream Center: Hope for the Inner City'' (1999) * '' To End All Wars'' (2001) * ''
Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adulthood in the Midwestern United States, Americ ...
'' (2004) (miniseries) * ''After...'' (2006) * '' The Path to 9/11'' (2006) (TV) * '' The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising'' (2007) * '' Hakani: A Survivor's Story'' (2008) * '' Running for Grace'' (2018) * '' The Wind & the Reckoning'' (2022)


References


External links

*
University of the Nations School of Digital Film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, David L. 1971 births Living people People from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Film directors from Hawaii American documentary film directors American television directors