Nicolas Rossier is an American filmmaker and reporter best known for his biographical documentaries of the former president of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (; born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1991 before being deposed in a coup d'état. As a priest, he taught liberation theo ...

and South African

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

co-recipient (together with

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

) F.W. de Klerk.

Filmmaking career

Rossier was the first journalist to interview ousted president

after the

2004 Haitian coup d'état A coup d'état in Haiti on 29 February 2004, following several weeks of conflict, resulted in the removal of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office. On 5 February, a rebel group, called the National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation ...

, with excerpts of this interview being featured in the documentary ''

Aristide and the Endless Revolution ''Aristide and the Endless Revolution'' is a 2005 feature documentary directed and produced by Nicolas Rossier about former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the '' coup d'etat'' that ousted him from the country in 2004. Rossier was t ...

''. The film has been called "vital" by ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' and "taut, well-balanced and insightful" by 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 ...

. Rossier was also the last journalist to interview Aristide before he was allowed to return to Haiti in 2010. His follow-up film, '' American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein'', profiling the life and work of the controversial Jewish academic and author, received many positive reviews. His work has aired on television networks around the world including

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...

, and the

Hallmark Channel Hallmark Channel is an American cable television network owned by Hallmark Media, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards. The channel broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. ...

and leading international venues such as 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 New York, IDFA in Amsterdam, the

Rotterdam International Film Festival International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

, and

Hot Docs The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

. His work has been praised by industry peers such as

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

Albert Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films in ...

and

Mark Achbar Mark Achbar (born 1955) is a Canadian filmmaker, best known for '' The Corporation'' (2003), '' Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media'' (1994), and as an Executive Producer on over a dozen feature documentaries. Biography Achbar ...

. He has collaborated with many notable professionals in the industry, among them veteran

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

reporter

David Ridgen David Ridgen is an independent Canadian filmmaker born in Stratford, Ontario, Stratford, Ontario. He has worked for CBC Television, MSNBC, NPR, TVOntario and others. He is currently the writer, producer and host of CBC Radio’s true-crime podca ...

and

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 ...

-winning producer

Jon Alpert Jon Alpert (born c. December 13, 1948) is an American journalist and documentary film, documentary film director, filmmaker, known for his use of a cinéma vérité approach in his films. Life and career A native of Port Chester, New York, Jo ...

Early career and biography

Rossier's first film, ''Life is a Dream: a Street Poet in New York'' was released in 2000 and won him the Audience Award at the New York Independent Film Festival. He followed up with ''Brothers and Others'' in 2003 which exposed the impact and backlash of the events of 9/11 on Arab and Muslim communities within the United States which aired primetime on the

several times. Nicolas Rossier was born and raised in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland. He pursued a career in the financial sector in Europe before relocating to New York City in 1998 to transition into a career in film and journalism. He has studied at the

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (, abbreviated IHEID), commonly referred to as Geneva Graduate Institute, is a graduate-level research university in Geneva, Switzerland dedicated to international relations, dev ...

, the

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by the actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Str ...

, the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

and the

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...

. He works and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Awards

'' took the Best Documentary prize at the

Pan-African Film Festival Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) is a non-profit corporation in Los Angeles, California, United States, that states its goal is to promote "cultural understanding among peoples of African descent" through exhibiting art and film. It hosts a film ...

and was selected for the Amnesty International Doen Award at IDFA in Amsterdam. ''

American Radical ''American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein'' is a 2009 documentary film about the life of the American academic Norman Finkelstein, directed and produced by David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier. The documentary features Finkelstein and seve ...

'' won the Audience Choice award at IFP/ Chicago Underground Film Festival, the Cinema Politica Audience Award, the

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...

Award for Best Anti- War Film and was named one of the 'top ten best political documentaries' by

Screen Junkies Screen Junkies is an online movie magazine and YouTube channel, owned and operated by Fandom, that focuses primarily on movies and television. Screen Junkies produce numerous shows now spread across two YouTube channels, including ''The Screen J ...

.In June 2010, American Radical was invited to join the official collection of the

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

library. In 2012, his short documentary ONE BREATH about free diver champion William Trubridge was voted best original reporting by CNN

Filmography

*''Life is a Dream: A Street Poet in New York'' (2000) (with Emmanuel Tagnard) *''Brothers and Others'' (2003) *''Leila'' (2003) by Jean-Cyril Rossier (Executive Producer) *'' The Bridge'' (2006) (Producer with

and Matthew O'Neill *''

'' (2005) *'' American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein'' (2009) (with

) *''One Breath - The Story of William Trubridge'' (2012) *''Good People go to Hell, Saved People go to Heaven'' (2012) by Holly Hardman (Executive Producer) *'' The Other Man - F.W. de Klerk and the End of Apartheid'' (2015) *'' Charlie VS Goliath'' (2016) by Reed Lindsay (Producer)

References

External links

*
Nicolas Rossier page on the Huffington PostBaraka Productions
* ttps://www.dw.com/en/the-other-man/a-18875169/Page of the World broadcast premiere of the Other Manbr>Aljazeera World pageAmerican Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein official siteAristide and the Endless Revolution official siteFilmmaker interview about American RadicalFilmmaker interview about Aristide and the Endless Revolution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossier, Nicolas Film directors from Brooklyn Living people Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni Film people from Geneva Year of birth missing (living people)