Heidi Specogna (born 5 January 1959) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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 has contributed to the South American and African cinema by making the critically acclaimed films, ''Das kurze Leben des José Antonio Gutierrez'', ''Cahier africain'' and ''Tupamaros''.

Personal life

She was born on 5 January 1959 in

Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

, Switzerland.

Career

She attended the journalism school in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and then worked as a journalist for various German-Swiss press media. Then she studied at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin from 1982 to 1988. After graduating from the academy, she became a lecturer at the

Film Academy Baden-Württemberg The Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg (German: ''Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg'') was founded in 1991 as a publicly funded film school in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Filmakademie is one of the most internationally renowned film ...

for documentary film since 2003. In 1985, her short film ''Traces'' won the Bern Film Prize. She focused largely on cinema of

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and Africa for her filmmaking particularly through her own production house founded in 1990. In 1991, she made the debut with the documentary ''Tania la Guerillera'' about the Bolivian guerrilla fighter '

Tamara Bunke Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider (November 19, 1937 – August 31, 1967) was an Argentine-born East Germany, East German revolutionary known for her involvement in feminism, leftist politics, and liberation movements. Born to communist parents, Bunk ...

'. In 1993, she made the film ''Rosa'' about the illegal activity of a radio operator for the Rote Kapelle. Then in 1996 she played the role ''Tupamaros'', a guerrilla movement from

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, in the documentary of the same name. AV0A3178 Heidi Specogna

In 2011 she made the documentary ''Carte Blanche'' which is focused on the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

. Her film ''

The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez ''The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez'' (''Das kurze Leben des José Antonio Gutierrez'') is a 2006 documentary film directed by Heidi Specogna about the second US Marine to die during the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Lt. Shane Childers was the fi ...

'' won the

Swiss Film Award The Swiss Film Awards (, , , ; also known as the Swiss Film Prize) are national film awards awarded in several categories of Switzerland, first given out in 1998. History Between 1998 and 2008 the prize was given during the Solothurn Film Fest ...

2007 for best documentary and the

Adolf Grimme Prize The Grimme-Preis (Grimme Award), formerly known as the Adolf-Grimme-Preis, is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme. The Grimme Institute ...

. Then the film ''Carte Blanche'' was named the best German-language documentary film in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

in 2011 and later awarded the Catholic Media Prize. The film ''Goal hunter's ship'' received the prize of the youth jury in Leipzig and her 'girl story' titled ''Esther und die Geister'' was awarded the German human rights prize. In 2017, her film ''Cahier Africain'' based on the crisis-ridden Central African Republic, received the German Film Prize Lola, as well as the Swiss Film Prize for Best Documentary at the German Human Rights Film Prize, as well as the Silver Dove in Leipzig and in 2018 the Adolf Grimme Prize. In 2019, Specogna awarded with the

Konrad Wolf Prize The Konrad Wolf Prize () is a German performing arts, new media art and film award given since 1986 by the Academy of Arts, Berlin (formerly the East German Academy of Arts). It is named after the East German film director and former president of t ...

at the Academy of the Arts. In 2020, The

Solothurn Film Festival The Solothurn Film Festival (SFT) is the most important festival for Swiss film productions. Founded in 1966 in the Swiss city of Solothurn, the annual festival presents a representative selection of Swiss feature, documentary, and short film prod ...

dedicated the special program “Rencontre” to Specogna for remembering her contribution to the African cinema. In 2022 the Munich International Documentary Film Festival dedicated an homage to her filmmaking.

Filmography

Awards and accolades

* 2007: Swiss Film Award in the Best Documentary Film category for ''The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez'' * 2008:

for ''The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez'' * 2011: 3sat documentary film award for ''Carte Blanche'' * 2012: German Human Rights Film Award for ''Esther and the Ghosts'' * 2013: Catholic Media Prize for ''Carte Blanche'' * 2016: German human rights film award for ''Cahier africain'' * 2017: Swiss Film Prize and German Film Prize LOLA for ''Cahier africain'' (Best Documentary) * 2019:

References

External links