Margaret Betts (born

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 ...

) is an American filmmaker. Her debut feature ''

Novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

'' was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

and received a Jury Award for her direction.

Background

Her father is

Roland W. Betts Roland Whitney Betts (born May 25, 1946) is an American investor, film producer, developer, and owner of Chelsea Piers in New York City. A classmate and Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity brother of George W. Bush, Betts was the lead owner i ...

, who had a close personal relationship with former president

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. The themes of her films are largely inspired by the social consciousness she developed through interactions with former first lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

and the work she has done with various

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

organizations such as

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

Career

Though she recently signed with CAA, she is also represented by

Brillstein Entertainment Partners Brillstein Entertainment Partners (formerly known as Brillstein/Grey Entertainment and Brillstein/Grey Communications) is a talent management firm and television production company formed by the 1986 addition of Brad Grey to The Brillstein Compan ...

. She earned her BA in English from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, and though she was not ultimately selected, earned a coveted spot on Marvel's shortlist of potential directors for '' Black Widow''.

Films

''The Carrier''

Betts gained renown following the debut of her 2010 documentary, ''The Carrier'', at the Tribeca Film Festival. This film was largely inspired by her experience fighting to eradicate AIDS in South Africa. The documentary was also selected for festivals such as

Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is an annual non-fiction film festival held in Missoula, Montana each February. The event showcases documentary films from around the world. The festival first began in 2003 as a seven-day event. It is now a ten- ...

(2012), Documentary Edge Film Festival (2012), One World International Film Festival (2012),

Sedona Film Festival The Sedona International Film Festival (SIFF) is an annual, eight-day film festival in Sedona, Arizona. The festival was founded in 1994. The Sedona Film Festival screens feature films, documentary films, short films, animated films, and student ...

(2012), Women's Film Festival (2012), Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival (2012), Lone Star Film Festival (2011),

Zurich Film Festival Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) is an annual film festival that has been held in Zürich, Switzerland, since 2005. The festival's main focus is to promote emerging filmmakers from all over the world. In three competition categories only first, second ...

(2011), The 15th Annual Docu Weeks, and Watch Docs Human Rights Film Festival (2011).

''Engram''

Betts wrote and directed the film, ''Engram'' (2014), a 25-minute short film featuring

Isabel Lucas Isabel Lucas (born 29 January 1985) is an Australian actress and model. She is mainly known for her roles in '' Home and Away'' (2003–06), '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' (2009), ''Daybreakers'' (2009), ''The Waiting City'' (2009), ' ...

and

Oliver Ackland Oliver Ackland (born 9 November 1979) is an Australian actor. Biography In 2009 he was awarded the inaugural Heath Ledger scholarship by Australians in Film. Ackland starred in Ben Lucas' ''Wasted on the Young'', which premiered at the 2010 S ...

. This film focuses on the story of two elderly strangers attempting to re-discover a mutual memory as they waited to board a subway train. Betts claimed that the original inspiration for ''Engram'' was derived from the experience her mom had as a survivor of a hit-and-run accident in her youth.

''Novitiate''

Betts also served as the writer and director of the film ''

'' (2017). After participation in the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, this film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. It explores the story of a young woman who struggles to understand her newly selected religion as she strives to become a nun.

''The Burial''

Betts also served as the director of the upcoming film '' The Burial,'' starring

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film '' Ray'', for which he won the ...

, and

Jurnee Smollett Jurnee Diana Smollett (born October 1, 1986) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, including ''On Our Own (1994 TV series), On Our Own'' (1994–1995) and ''Full House'' (1992–1994). Sh ...

Awards and recognition

* Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Director (2017), Sundance Film Festival for ''Novitiate'' * Nominated, Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award (2017), Gotham Awards for ''Novitiate''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Betts, Maggie Year of birth missing (living people) Living people African-American film directors African-American screenwriters Film directors from New York City Filmmakers from New York (state) Screenwriters from New York (state) American women film directors American women screenwriters Princeton University alumni Writers from New York City 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women African-American women writers