Mitchell Block (born c. 1950) is an American

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

, primarily a producer of

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 ...

s. He was executive producer of the 2000

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

documentary film ''

Big Mama Big mama () is a Chinese language neologism for an Internet censor on web bulletin board systems in the People's Republic of China. Big mamas are human censors and moderators on different online platforms who remove politically sensitive inform ...

'', which won Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the

73rd Academy Awards The 73rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best of 2000 in film and took place on March 25, 2001, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST ...

. He produced the 2010 film '' Poster Girl'', which was nominated in the same category at the 83rd Academy Awards. He also produced '' The Testimony'' (2015) and executive produced ''

Women of the Gulag ''Women of the Gulag'' is a 2018 US short documentary film directed by Marianna Yarovskaya. and based on the book ''Women of the Gulag: Stories of Five Remarkable Lives'' by Paul Roderick Gregory (2013). Executive Produced by Mitchell Block and Ma ...

'' (2018), which were shortlisted in the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category at the

88th Academy Awards The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2015 and took place on February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. PST. Dur ...

and the

91st Academy Awards The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, ...

, respectively. In 2022, Block, among Anna Rezan,

Kim Magnusson Kim Magnusson is a Danish film producer and actor who has received seven Academy Awards nominations and two awards, all for short films. Magnusson graduated from the AFI Conservatory in 1991 and is credited as a producer in more than 150 films. H ...

and Zafeiris Haitidis produced the feature documentary ''My People'' that premiered to rave reviews in Los Angeles.

Early life and education

Block was born about 1950. He attended the

Hun School of Princeton The Hun School of Princeton is a private, coeducational, secondary boarding school located in Princeton in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students from sixth through twelfth grades. Currently, the head of school ...

, graduating in 1968. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts from the

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, where he majored in television and film production. In 1973, Block received the first

Leo Jaffe Leo Jaffe (April 23, 1909 in New York City, New York – August 20, 1997 in New York City, New York) was an American film executive. He was chairman of the board of Columbia Pictures from 1973 until his retirement in 1981. He is the father of f ...

Scholarship because of his student work as a producer. He earned an MBA from the

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

. He was a producing fellow at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

Center for Advanced Studies, Beverly Hills and did work towards a doctorate at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in film and television history, criticism, theory and business.Staff
"Mitchell Block ’68 film ''Poster Girl'' Nominated for an Oscar"
,

, January 26, 2011. Accessed March 6, 2011.

Career

Block began to work in television and film. He became particularly interested in documentaries. He established his own company, Direct Cinema, in 1974, of which he is president. It produces and distributes films. Since 1980, Block has been on the 40-person Documentary Screening Committee of the Academy Awards. They nominate the short list of finalists for awards. In 2022, Block, among Anna Rezan,

and Zafeiris Haitidis produced the feature documentary ''My People'' that premiered to rave reviews in Los Angeles.

Conflict of interest claims

In 1990, a group of 45 filmmakers filed a protest to the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

over a potential conflict of interest involving Block. They noted that Block was a member of the Documentary Steering Committee, which selects films as nominees, but he had a conflict of interest because his company Direct Cinema owned the distribution rights to three of the five films (including eventual winner '' Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt'') selected that year as nominees for an

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosoph ...

. They noted that

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

's ''

Roger & Me ''Roger & Me'' is a 1989 American documentary film written, produced, directed by, and starring Michael Moore, in his directorial debut. Moore portrays the regional economic impact of General Motors CEO Roger Smith's action of closing several ...

'' (distributed by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

) was omitted from the nominees, although it had been highly praised by numerous critics and was ranked by many critics as one of the top ten films of the year.Collins, Glenn
"Film Makers Protest to Academy"
''The New York Times'', 24 February 1990. Accessed March 6, 2011.

Works

Block produced the documentary '' The Testimony'' (2015), which chronicled the 2014 Minova Trial in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. It was short listed for a 2015 Academy Award. His 2010 film '' Poster Girl'' was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). He was executive producer for the film ''

'' (2000), which won an Academy Award for a documentary short. Among the films and documentary series that Block has conceived, created and produced are '' Carrier'' and ''Another Day in Paradise'', both of which were broadcast on the

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

and the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

internationally. ''Carrier'' received 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 ...

in 2009 for Best Cinematography in a prime time series. In 2008, Block's short film ''

No Lies ''No Lies'' is a 1973 American short dramatic film made by Mitchell Block while he was a student at New York University. Summary The film, which is in the style of a ''cinéma vérité'' interview by a young filmmaker, deals with a young woman ...

'' (1973) was selected for the National Film Registry by the Librarian of Congress. In 2016, film critics for the website ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

'' selected ''No Lies'' as one of the ten best short films ever made. In 2022, Block, among Anna Rezan,

and Zafeiris Haitidis produced the feature documentary ''My People'' that premiered to rave reviews in Los Angeles. A segment of the film titled My People: Jews of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

had ran for the

Oscars The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 2021.

Personal life

Since 1978, Block has been an adjunct professor at the

School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...

of the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. He teaches in the Peter Stark Producing Program. His moving image collection, the Direct Cinema/Mitchell Block Collection, is held at the Academy Film Archive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Mitchell 1950s births Living people American documentary filmmakers Columbia Business School alumni Hun School of Princeton alumni Tisch School of the Arts alumni