AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS IN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING

29-09-2009

AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS IN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING – TERRY SANDERS

Terry Sanders (born New York, 1931) is a director, producer and writer, who has been granted the Academy Award® twice.

He has directed and/or produced more than 70 award-winning dramatic features, theatrical documentaries, television specials and a large body of portrait films of major American artists, writers and musicians. He is considered to be one of the greatest contemporary documentary filmmakers. His documentary filmography includes such great productions as Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, the Academy Award®-winning documentary about a sculptress who made the famous for Vietnam Memorial Wall and the Civil Rights Fountain Memorial, Fighting for Life about American military doctors, nurses and medics on the front lines of the Iraq, a famous documentary Return with Honor, which tells a story of U.S. fighter pilots shot down over North Vietnam who became POWs for over 8 years, and The Legend of Marilyn Monroe and Slow Fires: On the Preservation of the Human Record.

He is founder and co-head (together with his wife, documentary filmmaker, Freida Lee Mock) of American Film Foundation which is a Santa Monica-based non-profit production company that has produced both Academy and Emmy Award-winning documentaries. Both Sanders and Mock have dedicated the mission of their foundation to the production of films that honor the arts, humanities, and sciences. The company's projects range from theatrical documentary films and television series to dramatic feature films.

Terry Sanders will be an honourable guest of the Festival, where a retrospective of his films will be presented to the international public of Plus Camerimage 2009. The retrospective will be part of a documentary film section "Image of the World - World in Images" organized under the patronage of Discovery Networks Central Europe.

Selected filmography:

2007: Fighting For Life (Director, Producer, Writer)

2005: Wrestling With Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner (Executive Producer, Co-Cinematographer)

1998: Return With Honor (Director, Producer, Writer, Cinematographer)

1995: Never Give Up: The 20th Century Odyssey of Herbert Zipper (Director, Producer, Writer)

1995: Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (Producer, Co-cinematographer)

1990: Rose Kennedy: A Life to Remember (Director, Producer, Writer)

1989: Lillian Gish: The Actor's Life for Me (Director, Producer, Writer)

1987: Slow Fires: On the Preservation of the Human Record (Director, Producer)

1982: To Live or Let Die (Director)

1973: Four Stones for Kanemitsu (Director, Producer)

1966: The Legend of Marilyn Monroe (Director, Producer)