Heidi Specogna (born 5 January 1959) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

filmmaker. She has contributed to the South American and African cinema by making the critically acclaimed films, ''Das kurze Leben des José Antonio Gutierrez'', ''Cahier africain'' and ''Tupamaros''.

Personal life

She was born on 5 January 1959 in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.

Career

She attended the journalism school in Zurich and then worked as a journalist for various German-Swiss press media. Then she studied at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin from 1982 to 1988. After graduating from the academy, she became a lecturer at the

Film Academy Baden-Württemberg The Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg (German: ''Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg'') was founded in 1991 as a publicly funded film school in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The Filmakademie is one of the most internationally renowned film sc ...

for documentary film since 2003. In 1985, her short film ''Traces'' won the Bern Film Prize. She focused largely on cinema of Latin America and Africa for her filmmaking particularly through her own production house founded in 1990. In 1991, she made the debut with the documentary ''Tania la Guerillera'' about the Bolivian guerrilla fighter '

Tamara Bunke __NOTOC__ Tamara may refer to: People * Tamara (name), including a list of people with this name * Tamara (Spanish singer) (born 1984) * Tamara, stage name of Spanish singer Yurena (born 1969) * Tamara, stage name of Macedonian singer Tamara Tod ...

'. In 1993, she made the film ''Rosa'' about the illegal activity of a radio operator for the

Rote Kapelle The Red Orchestra (german: Die Rote Kapelle, ), as it was known in Germany, was the name given by the Abwehr Section III.F to anti-Nazi resistance workers in August 1941. It primarily referred to a loose network of resistance groups, connected ...

. Then in 1996 she played the role ''Tupamaros'', a guerrilla movement from Uruguay, in the documentary of the same name. AV0A3178 Heidi Specogna

In 2011 she made the documentary ''Carte Blanche'' which is focused on the Central African Republic. Her film ''

The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez ''The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez'' (''Das kurze Leben des José Antonio Gutierrez'') is a 2006 documentary film directed by Heidi Specogna about the second US Marine to die during the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Lt. Shane Childers was the fi ...

'' won the

Swiss Film Award The ''Swiss Film Award'' (formerly ''Swiss Film Prize'', also called ''Quartz'') (french: Prix du cinéma suisse, german: Schweizer Filmpreis, it, Premio del cinema svizzero, rm, Premi dal film svizzer) is the national film award of Switzerland, ...

2007 for best documentary and the

Adolf Grimme Prize The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.Duisburg in 2011 and later awarded the Catholic Media Prize. The film ''Goal hunter's ship'' received the prize of the youth jury in Leipzig and her 'girl story' titled ''Esther und die Geister'' was awarded the German human rights prize. In 2017, her film ''Cahier Africain'' based on the crisis-ridden Central African Republic, received the German Film Prize Lola, as well as the Swiss Film Prize for Best Documentary at the German Human Rights Film Prize, as well as the Silver Dove in Leipzig and in 2018 the Adolf Grimme Prize. In 2019, Specogna awarded with the

Konrad Wolf Prize The Konrad Wolf Prize (german: Konrad-Wolf-Preis) is a German performing arts, new media art and film award given since 1986 by the Academy of Arts, Berlin (formerly the East German Academy of Arts). It is named after the East German film director a ...

at the Academy of the Arts. In 2020, The Solothurn Film Festival dedicated the special program “Rencontre” to Specogna for remembering her contribution to the African cinema.

Filmography

Awards and accolades

* 2007: Swiss Film Award in the Best Documentary Film category for ''The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez'' * 2008:

Adolf Grimme Prize The Grimme-Preis ("Grimme Award"; prior to 2011: Adolf-Grimme-Preis) is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme.Konrad Wolf Prize The Konrad Wolf Prize (german: Konrad-Wolf-Preis) is a German performing arts, new media art and film award given since 1986 by the Academy of Arts, Berlin (formerly the East German Academy of Arts). It is named after the East German film director a ...

References

External links