Edet Belzberg is a

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 ...

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 ...

. She won a 2005

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

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, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

and an M.A. in 1997 from the

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University The School of International and Public Affairs (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. SIPA offers Master of I ...

. 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'', 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 urchins; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policymakers ...

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

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

(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, Film ...

(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''. Films ...

. 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) * '' Children Underground'' (2001) * ''Gymnast'' (2005) * ''Time Piece'' (2006) ( Bobby's Tale segment) * '' The Recruiter'' (2007) * ''

Watchers of the Sky ''Watchers of the Sky'' is a 2014 American documentary film directed by Edet Belzberg. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2014 in the ''U.S. Documentary Competition''. It won the two awards at the festival. It wen ...

'' (2014)

Producer filmography

* ''Anthem'' (1997) (associate producer) * '' Children Underground'' (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 Boulder alumni American documentary film directors American women documentary filmmakers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women