Anne Aghion (born 1960) is a French-American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

maker. She is a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

, a Mac Dowell Colony Fellow and a

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

Bellagio Center Fellow. In 2005, she won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for her documentary '' In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies''. In 2009, her film "

My Neighbor My Killer ''My Neighbor, My Killer'' (french: Mon voisin, mon tueur) is a 2009 French-American documentary film directed by Anne Aghion that focuses on the process of the Gacaca courts, a citizen-based justice system that was put into place in Rwanda afte ...

" was Official Selection of the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

and a nominee for Best Documentary at the

Gotham Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

Filmmaking career

Aghion is best known for her

s on post-genocide

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. Her feature film ''

'', an official selection at the

in 2009, poses the question of "How do you make it right again?" after the end of the genocide. This film as well as the three installments of the Gacaca trilogy are the result of nearly ten years of footage gathered in a small rural community in Rwanda. In Aghion's first Rwanda film '' Gacaca, Living Together Again In Rwanda?'', the first installment of the Gacaca series, Anne Aghion closely examines the Gacaca courts, a citizen-based justice system that aims to try the crimes of the

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

. The proceedings would occur on grass – "Gacaca" in

Kinyarwanda Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is spoken in Rwanda and adjacent parts of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda (where there ...

– where anyone who had a denouncement against the accused would be free to speak. If no one accused a prisoner, then that prisoner would be freed. '' In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies'', the second film of the trilogy, chronicles the release of a suspect in his community and how victims and suspects slowly learn how to live together. The third installment of her Rwanda series '' The Notebooks of Memory'' was released in 2009 and gives an account of the beginning of the Gacaca trials. It focuses on the local citizen-judges' examination of testimonies from both the survivors and those accused of the crimes. The Gacaca films have won numerous awards and gained international fame. They have also been widely used by

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

s for educational and training purposes, and have been screened to officials, victims and prisoners in Rwanda. On a grant of the National Science Foundation Antarctic artist and writer program, Aghion peregrinated to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, where she filmed the feature-length, '' Ice People'',. In ''Ice People'', she filmed the lives of

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

s and

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

professors Allan Ashworth and Adam Lewis and the

McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is a United States Antarctic research station on the south tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the Unit ...

staff over four months. 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. The film premiered at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

in April 2008 and was shown at the Independence Night Film of the

Film Society of Lincoln Center Film at Lincoln Center, previously known as the Film Society of Lincoln Center until 2019,Aridi, Sara (April 28, 2019).. ''The New York Times''. nytimes.com. Retrieved April 29, 2019. is a film society based in New York City, United States. Fo ...

in 2008. Her first film, '' Se Le Movió El Piso (The Earth Moved Under Him)—A Portrait of Managua'', was shot in the skid row of

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicara ...

. The film gives viewers an inside look in the life of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

n slum dwellers as they recount the numerous obstacles they have had to overcome in their lives. Aghion is a member of

Film Fatales Film Fatales is a non-profit which advocates for parity in the entertainment industry and supports a community of women feature film directors who meet regularly to mentor each other, collaborate on projects and share resources. History The group w ...

women's independent filmmaker collective.

Biography and early career

Aghion splits her time between residences in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Before becoming a filmmaker, Aghion held various posts at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' Paris bureau and the ''

International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...

''. 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 Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and Literature from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York, and following her studies, lived in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, for two years.

Awards

Aghion won an

in 2005 for her documentary '' In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies''. ''

'' was an Official Selection of the

in 2009, nominated for Best Documentary at the

. It was screened at the 2009 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

in New York where Aghion received the Néstor Almendros Award (named for the Oscar-winning

Néstor Almendros Néstor Almendros Cuyás, (30 October 1930 – 4 March 1992) was a Spanish cinematographer. One of the most highly appraised contemporary cinematographers, "Almendros was an artist of deep integrity, who believed the most beautiful light wa ...

) for courage in filmmaking. It also was Best Documentary at the Montreal Black Festival. Aghion also won a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Fellini Prize for '' Gacaca, Living Together Again In Rwanda?'' Ice People screened at the

San Francisco Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

in 2008 and at the Independence Film Night of the

. In 1996, her first documentary '' Se le movió el piso: A portrait of Managua'' won the Coral Award for "Best Non-Latin American Documentary on Latin America" at the

Havana Film Festival The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Latin American filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as ''Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana,'' and in English as International Festiva ...

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. Aghion is also a recipient of the prestigious

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

, the Mac Dowell Colony Fellowship and the

Rockefeller foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

's Bellagio Center Fellowship. She has received significant praise for her work, which has been seen all over the world and is part of the collection of a great number of international university libraries.

Filmography

* '' Se le movió el piso: A portrait of Managua'' (1995) * '' Gacaca, Living Together Again In Rwanda?'' (2002) * '' In Rwanda We Say…The Family That Does Not Speak Dies'' (2004) * '' Ice People'' (2008) * '' The Notebooks of Memory'' (2009) * ''

My Neighbor, My Killer ''My Neighbor, My Killer'' (french: Mon voisin, mon tueur) is a 2009 French-American documentary film directed by Anne Aghion that focuses on the process of the Gacaca courts, a citizen-based justice system that was put into place in Rwanda afte ...

'' (2009)

References

External links

Official website

Official Gacaca Films website

Official Ice People website
* *
Anne Aghion
at VH1
Biography of Anne Aghion at The Women's College Coalition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aghion, Anne 1960 births Living people American documentary filmmakers French documentary filmmakers News & Documentary Emmy Award winners Barnard College alumni Film directors from Paris The New York Times writers The New York Times corporate staff Date of birth missing (living people) French emigrants to the United States French documentary film producers