Anne Aghion

Infobox Actor
name = Anne Aghion


caption =
birthname = Anne Aghion
birthdate = 1960
birthplace = Paris, France
deathdate =
deathplace =
othername =
occupation = Director, Producer, Screenwriter
yearsactive = 1996 – present
emmyawards = Outstanding Informational Programming 2005 In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies
awards = Coral Award for Best Work of a Non-Latin American Director on a Latin America Subject
1996
spouse =
website = http://www.anneaghionfilms.com/

Anne Aghion (born 1960) is a French-American Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and Guggenheim fellow.

Filmmaking career

Aghion is best known for her two documentary films examining the situation in post-genocide Rwanda, "In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies", and "Gacaca, Living Together Again In Rwanda?" In the former film, Aghion interviews a genocide offender who has been released back into his community, as well as victims of the genocide. [cite news |title=Video Reviews: Gacaca: Living Together in Rwanda? & In Rwanda We Say… The Family That Does Not Speak Dies |url=http://www.restorativejustice.org/editions/2006/may06/videoreview/ |work=Centre for Justice & Reconciliation |date=2006-05 |accessdate=2008-07-24 ] In "Gacaca", which is a community-based system of justice meaning "grass" in Kinyarwanda, Aghion is filmed as a prosecutor who tried the prisoners. [cite news |first=Nancy |last=Ramsey |title=Filming Rwandans' Efforts To Heal |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E6DF1F3AF937A15757C0A9659C8B63 |work=The New York Times |date=2003-04-24 |accessdate=2008-07-25 ] The proceedings would occur on grass where anyone who had a denouncement against the accused would be free to speak. If no one accused the prisoner, then that prisoner would be freed.cite interview |last=Aghion |first=Anne |interviewer=Paula Schaap |title=Shooting People: Shooter Films Interview with Anne Aghion |url= http://shootingpeople.org/shooterfilms/interview.php?int_id=52 |city=New York |date= |accessdate=2008-07-25 ] The films were shot in a small rural community over seven years and have been widely used by non-profit organizations for educational and training purposes. The third and final installment of her Rwanda trilogy is due to be released in 2009. [cite web |url=http://www.icepeople.com/Ice_People_Press_Kit.pdf |title=Ice People Press Kit |accessdate=2008-07-25 |work=Anne Aghion & Dry Valleys Productions |pages=11 ]

Her first film, "", was shot in the skid row of Managua. The film gives viewers an inside look in the life of Nicaraguan slum dwellers as they recount the numerous obstacles they have had to overcome in their lives.

Aghion's latest project, "Ice People", brings the filmmaker to Antarctica where she filmed the lives of geologists and North Dakota State University professors Dr. Allan Ashworth and Dr. Adam Lewis and the McMurdo Station staff over four months.cite news |title=Pole Watch |url=http://www.barnard.edu/newnews/news030707.html |work=Barnard News Center |date=2007=03-07 |accessdate=2008-07-25 ] The scientists, accompanied by two undergraduate students, researched fossils of ancient specimens as they sought to uncover the climatic evolution of the world's coldest continent. [cite web |url=http://www.jff.org.il/?CategoryID=550&ArticleID=327 |title=Documentary Films: Ice People |accessdate=2008-07-24 |work=Jerusalem Film Festival ] The film premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in April 2008 [cite web |url=http://fest08.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=40 |title=Films/Ice People |accessdate=2008-07-26 |work=San Francisco International Film Festival |date=2007 ] and was screened at the Jerusalem Film Festival in July 2008. [cite news |title="Ice People" Premieres at Jerusalem Film Festival |url=http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/542483/ |work=Newswise |date=2008-07-09 |accessdate=2008-07-24 ]

Biography and early career

Anne Aghion splits her time between residences in New York City and Paris. [cite web |url=http://www.unaff.org/2004/f_inrwanda.html |title=UNAFF2004 In Rwanda We Say... The Family That Does Not Speak Dies |accessdate=2008-07-25 |work=UNAFF |date=2004 ]

Before becoming a filmmaker, Aghion held various posts at "The New York Times" Paris bureau and the "International Herald Tribune". [cite news |first=Jerry |last=Tallmer |title=French filmmaker tackles genocide |url=http://www.thevillager.com/villager_107/frenchfilmakertackles.html |work=The Villager |date=2005-05-18 |accessdate=2008-07-25 ] Prior to her debut as director and producer of her own films, she worked as a videographer, as well as production and post-production manager.

Aghion earned a Bachelor of Arts "Magna Cum Laude" in Arab Language and Literature from Barnard College at Columbia University in New York, and following her studies, lived in Cairo, Egypt for two years.

Awards

Anne Aghion won an Emmy Award in 2005 for her feature documentary "In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies" [cite web |url=http://www.emmyonline.org/emmy/26news_wins_b.html |title=News Emmy Awards - 26th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Award Nominee Press Release - PART B |accessdate=2008-07-28 |work=National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ] [cite web |url=http://www.itvs.org/international/filmmakers/icepeople.html |title=Ice People | Directed by: Anne Aghion, Produced by: Benoit Gryspeerdt |accessdate=2008-07-28 |work=Independent Television Service ] [cite news |title=PBS wins six news and doc Emmys |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9417799/ |work=Associated Press |date=2005-09-20 |accessdate=2008-07-24 ] and a UNESCO Fellini Prize for "Gacaca, Living Together Again In Rwanda?". [cite web |url=http://www.preventgenocide.org/edu/pastgenocides/rwanda/resources/ |title=Resources on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda |accessdate=2008-07-26 |work=Prevent Genocide International |date=2005-09-21 ] In 1996, her first documentary "" won the Coral Award for "Best Non-Latin American Documentary on Latin America" at the Havana Film Festival in Havana, Cuba. [cite web |url=http://bbs.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Havana_Film_Festival/1996 |title=Havana Film Festival: 1996 |accessdate=2008-07-24 |work=Internet Movie Database ] Aghion is also a recipient of the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and has received significant praise for her work. [cite web |url=http://www.gf.org/05fellow.html |title=Guggenheim Foundation 2005 Fellows Page |accessdate=2008-07-25 |work=Guggenheim Foundation |date=2005 ]

Filmography

*"" (1995)
*"Gacaca, Living Together Again In Rwanda?" (2002)
*"In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies" (2004)
*"Ice People" (2008)

References

External links

* [http://www.anneaghionfilms.com Official website]
*imdb name|id=0013040|name=Anne Aghion
*amg name|2:334199
* [http://vmu.vh1.com/movies/person/297389/personmain.jhtml Anne Aghion] at VH1
* [http://www.womenscolleges.org/profiles/alumna/aghion.htm Biography of Anne Aghion at WomensCollege.org]