Oren Jacoby is a director and producer of

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 ...

s including; '' Shadowman (2017),'' '' My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes'' (2014), '' Lafayette: The Lost Hero''(2010), '' Constantine's Sword'' (2008), '' Sister Rose's Passion'' (2005), ''The Shakespeare Sessions'' (2003), ''

Stage on Screen ''Stage on Screen'' was a series broadcast on public television Public Broadcasting Service, PBS Network affiliate, affiliate Thirteen WNET New York, which presents American theatrical productions that consist of cinematic and made-for-TV adaptati ...

: The Topdog Diaries'' (2002), ''The Beatles Revolution'' (2000), and ''

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

: Stalking Himself'' (1998). His stage adaptation of Ralph Ellison's ''

Invisible Man ''Invisible Man'' is Ralph Ellison's first novel, and the only one published during his lifetime. It was first published by the British magazine Horizon in 1947, and addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African American ...

'' premiered in 2012 at the Court Theater in Chicago, starring Teagle Bougere.

Life and career

Jacoby was educated at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. He has been an independent filmmaker since 1992, and was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are announ ...

in 2005 for ''Sister Rose's Passion'', which also won Best Documentary Short Film at the 2004

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

. He has written, directed, and produced award-winning films for three decades. His work has been recognized by the American Film Institute, the Alfred I. DuPont / Columbia awards, the MacArthur Foundation, the Sundance Institute, ITVS, Britain’s Royal Television Society, and by the Oscars. His films have appeared on the BBC, HBO Cinemax, PBS, National Geographic, VH-1, NHK, Bloomberg TV and Arté, as well as Nokia, Verizon, and

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 ...

websites. He created and was the executive producer as well as a director and writer for the six-part documentary TV series ''Risk Takers'' (2011–12). In September 2014, he released '' My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes'', a feature-length documentary about unsung heroes in World War II Italy. Jacoby’s stage adaptation of Ralph Ellison’s ''Invisible Man'' was produced in Washington and Boston in 2012–13. It won a Jefferson Award for best New Play adaptation and 4 Helen Hayes Awards in 2013. ''Shadowman'', a film about the life of

Richard Hambleton Richard Art Hambleton (June 23, 1952 – October 29, 2017) was a Canadian artist known for his work as a street artist. He was a surviving member of a group that emerged from the New York City art scene during the booming art market of the 1980s ...

was screened in the Tribeca Film Festival April 21, 2017. The film came in second place for the Tribeca Audience Award. ''Topdog Diaries'' about the Pulitzer prize-winning playwright,

Suzan-Lori Parks Suzan-Lori Parks (born May 10, 1963) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. Her play '' Topdog/Underdog'' won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002; Parks was the first African-American woman to receive the award for drama. She wa ...

, featured Don Cheadle and Jeffrey Wright; ''The Shakespeare Sessions'' starred Kevin Kline, Cynthia Nixon, Liev Schreiber, and Charles S. Dutton. Jacoby also made: ''Swingin’ with Duke'', a celebration of Duke Ellington's centennial featuring

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

; ''Master Thief'' on the "art heist of the century"; ''Benny Goodman: Adventures in the Kingdom of Swing'' for

American Masters ''American Masters'' is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and those who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the U ...

and ''The Second Russian Revolution'', a behind-the-scenes investigation of the collapse of the USSR, called "the best

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series of the decade" by the ''London Independent''. Jacoby also wrote, produced and directed ''The Return Ticket'', adapted from a short story by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

; '' The Last Girl on Earth'', ''Ghosts of the Bayou'' and ''Idols of the Game'', featuring

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

. Jacoby has directed plays at Theater for the New City, the Williamstown Theater Festival, Ensemble Studio Theater, the West Bank Cafe and regional theaters, including new works by Richard Dresser, Quincy Long, Botho Strauss, and Franz Xavier Kroetz as well as classics by Molière, Chekhov, and Pirandello. He is married to fellow documentary filmmaker Betsy West.

References

External links

*
Oren Jacoby at Charlie Rose
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacoby, Oren Film directors from New York (state) Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American documentary filmmakers Brown University alumni Yale University alumni American theatre directors