Pietra Brettkelly

Pietra Brettkelly (born 1965)[1] is a New Zealand filmmaker, known for her documentaries. She is a three-time Oscar-nominated elected documentary filmmaker, a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and was recently named an Arts Laureate of New Zealand.[2] Her films have premiered in five of the world's six top film festivals – Sundance, Toronto, Venice, Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals and garnered many awards. She is known for her independent, risk-taking style, which has taken her to nearly 100 countries.[3]

Pietra Brettkelly
Born1965 (age 55–56)
New Zealand
OccupationFilmmaker
Years active2003–present

Documentary career

VIVA Magazine wrote of Brettkelly: “An extraordinary person who has led an extraordinary life… from Libya to Sudan, Afghanistan and China." [4]

Brettkelly's 2018 film, Yellow Is Forbidden, premiered In Competition and Opening Weekend at Tribeca Film Festival. Vogue Magazine noted it as a “film that is … a celebration of how extraordinary women are";[5] the film was selected for both the Best Foreign Language and Best Documentary sections of the Oscars. The Sydney Morning Herald called it, "[a] deliciously intimate film ... a near visceral experience[6]”.

Brettkelly's film, A Flickering Truth, which documents the unearthing of the Afghan Film Archive in Kabul, Afghanistan, premiered at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival to critical acclaim. It received a four star review in The Guardian which described it as “an astounding film”. Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, describing it as "a documentary not just for archivists but for those who see film as a vital part of local culture"[7] while Indiewire writer Eric Kohn called the movie an "eye-opening documentary ... a moving navigation of Afghanistan’s past and present."[8]"

A Flickering Truth was selected as the New Zealand entrant for the 2016 Best Foreign Language at the Oscars.

Brettkelly met Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft when filming in Sudan after the end of one of the longest running civil war in African history. Beecroft is famous for her provocative performance art, and while in Sudan for a project had decided to try and adopt motherless twins.[9] Brettkelly eventually followed Beecroft's adoption efforts over 16 months, which formed the basis for The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins.[10]

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote that “Pietra Brettkelly’s enigmatic rendering…is not a straightforward artist’s profile, political commentary or domestic drama, but a poetic fusion of the three."[11] Still in Motion (magazine)'s editor posited “I felt I was in the hands of a master storyteller.” The film won Best Editing in the World Documentary section of the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2012, Brettkelly's Māori Boy Genius premiered In Competition at Berlin Film Festival. Her Beauty Will Save The World (2003)'s World Premier American Film Institute Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Filmography
Filmography
Year Title Role Synopsis Notes
2018 Yellow is Forbidden Director Haute couture fashion in China, following designer Guo Pei.[12] premiered In Competition and Opening Weekend Tribeca Film Festival. Selected for Best Foreign Language and Best Documentary 2019 Academy Awards.[13][14]
2015 A Flickering Truth Director, Producer, Screenplay Attempts by Ibrahim Arify to restore the Afghan Film archives in Kabul, following the Taliban capture of the city. premiered at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and also screened as the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Selected for Best Foreign Language 2016 Academy Awards.
2011 Māori Boy Genius Director, Producer, Screenplay Ngaa Rauuira Pumanawawhiti, a 16-year-old prodigy, travels from rural New Zealand to the United States after being accepted to Summer School at Yale University.[15] The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, and won a Moa award in 2012 for Best Documentary.
2008 The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins Director, Producer, Screenplay Artist Vanessa Beecroft's attempt to adopt children in Sudan.[16] premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In 2009 Brettkelly was invited to screen the film at the New York's Museum of Modern Art as part of their documentary fortnight.[17] The film presents Beecroft as a "hypocritically self-aware, colossally colonial pomo narcissist" and chronicles her "damaging quotes and appalling behavior" as she attempts to adopt two Sudanese orphans for use in an art exhibit.[18][19] The Winnipeg Free Press noted that "any tendency for the observer to mock [Beecroft's] self-indulgence is mitigated by director Pietra Brettkelly's scrupulous acknowledgement of Beecroft's self-awareness." [20]
2003 Beauty Will Save the World Producer Libya's first beauty pageant, following 19-year-old Teca Zendik, the American contender. In 2003 Brettkelly travelled to Libya for that country's first ever beauty pageant. Beauty Will Save the World featured an interview with Muammar Gaddafi. Beauty Will Save The World premiered at the AFI Film Festival in October 2003,[21] and was shown at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam in 2004.[22]

Awards and honors
Select awards
Year Award Organization Award status Notes
2019 2019 Laureate Award, Dame Gaylene Preston Award for Documentary Film-makers Arts Foundation of New Zealand Won [2]
2018 Best Foreign Language Film 2018, New Zealand selection for Yellow is Forbidden The Oscars, Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Selected but not nominated. [23]
2016 Producer's Award, Women In Film Best Documentary 2016 New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC)
2015 Best Foreign Film 2015, New Zealand selection The Oscars, Academy Awards, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
2012 Moa Film Award for Maori Boy Genius Rialto Channel New Zealand Film Awards

References
  1. "Workshop: Why are you making films? Why this film? Why through film?". Modern Times Review (MTR). 2010-09-01. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  2. "Arts Foundation Laureate Awards". Arts Foundation. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  3. "Making A Difference: Mentoring in Action" (PDF). Women in Film and Television Magazine. Summer 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  4. Magazine, Viva. "Inside Film-Maker Pietra Brettkelly's New Documentary Yellow Is Forbidden - Viva". www.viva.co.nz. Retrieved 2019-10-17.
    Brettkelly's work is recognised for its considered quietness, a cinema verite approach that allows her subjects to tell their stories.  She famously was one of the first journalists to interview Colonel Gadaffi, for her first feature documentary Beauty Will Save The World (2003), during the negotiations over the lifting of the UN embargoes on Libya.
  5. ""Yellow Is Forbidden" Is A Celebration Of How Remarkable Women Are". British Vogue. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  6. Burns, Janice Breen (2018-07-20). "From bomber jackets to bling, MIFF struts its fashion cred". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  7. Young, Deborah. "'A Flickering Truth': Venice Review". Retrieved 2015-09-22.
  8. Kohn, Eric. "Memo to Distributors: Buy These 2015 Toronto International Film Festival Movies". Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  9. Koppelman, Charles (May 4, 2008). "A Work in Progress". LA Times. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  10. Chocano, Carina (January 25, 2008). "Intersecting (and dissecting) cultures on film: 'The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins'". LA Times. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  11. Debruge, Peter. "The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins". Retrieved 2015-09-24.
  12. Oleck, Joan (2018-04-26). "How This Chinese Designer Eked Her Way Into the Very Male, Very European World of Haute Couture". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  13. "87 COUNTRIES IN COMPETITION FOR 2018 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OSCAR". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2018-10-08. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  14. Vourlias, Christopher (2018-11-08). "Canada and Australia Have a Leg Up in Foreign-Language Oscar Race". Variety. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  15. "Maori 'boy genius' contribution to his culture". The New Zealand Herald. 2017-01-31. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  16. Debruge, Peter (2008-01-21). "The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins". Variety. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
  17. "The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins". Moma.org. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  18. "'Art Star' Vanessa Beecroft: Slammed at Sundance". Vulture. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  19. Glen Helfand (January 23, 2008). "LETTER FROM... More than Movies". ARTINFO. Retrieved 2008-04-24. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  20. King, Randall (30 June 2009). "Doc finds shades of grey". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  21. Chatelin, Bruno (14 October 2003). "AFI focus on middle east: beyond conflict". Filmfestivals.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
  22. "Beauty Will Save the World". International Documentary Film Festival. Amsterdam. 2004. Archived from the original on 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  23. "Yellow is Forbidden Submitted to Oscars". Scoop News New Zealand. October 2018. Retrieved 2020-01-05.

Media and reviews

Official Websites

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