Nancy Kates
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Nancy Kates is an independent filmmaker based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She directed ''
Regarding Susan Sontag ''Regarding Susan Sontag'' is a 2014 documentary film about the American intellectual Susan Sontag, directed by Nancy Kates. It premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in April 2014 and on HBO in December 2014. Interviewees include Nobel laureate Nadin ...
'', a feature documentary about the late essayist, novelist, director and activist. Through archival footage, interviews, still photographs and images from popular culture, the film reflects the boldness of Sontag’s work and the cultural importance of her thought, and received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Foundation for Jewish Culture and the Sundance Documentary Film Program. Kates is best known for her film '' Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin'', a full-length documentary she made with co-producer Bennett Singer about Bayard Rustin, the gay
civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
leader. The film premiered on the PBS series '' POV'' and at the 2003
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 numerous awards, including the 2004 GLAAD Media Award and audience awards at the major American gay and lesbian film festivals. It also received the award for best feature film at New York’s New Festival and a number of jury prizes. "In the struggle for African-American dignity, Rustin was perhaps the most critical figure that many people have never heard of," says a review in ''TIME Magazine'', "but neither mainstream society nor even the civil rights leadership could cope with his honesty." Hailed as "marvelous" by ''The Wall Street Journal'', "packed with information" by ''The New York Times'', and "beautifully crafted" by ''The Boston Globe'', the ''Village Voice'' commends the film for "vividly bring ngback to life a man who deeply and brilliantly influenced the course of the civil rights and peace movements." In 1995, Kates' master's thesis for
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
's film program, ''Their Own Vietnam,'' won a Student Academy Award in documentary. The film tells the stories of five American women who served in the Vietnam War, including a couple who met while serving. It presents a complex picture of their identities as women, using archival footage, home movies and snapshots. The film screened 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 ...
,
South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...
, the Boston International Festival of Women’s Cinema, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival among others, aired on public television, and received an award of merit from the International Documentary Association / David Wolper Awards. ''The Journal of American History'' praised the film, saying that the "complex melding of images from the Vietnam conflict culled from newsreel footage, snapshots, and military recruiting films with the jarringly honest recollections of five female veterans makes this an extremely compelling film," and ''LA Weekly'' praised it for its "transformations fraught with anger, pain, unimaginable guilt and sometimes joy - and the honesty with which they're brought to light." Her previous films include ''Castro Cowboy'', a short film about the late Marlboro model Christen Haren who died of AIDS in 1996, ''Joining the Tribe'', ''Married People'', and ''Going to Extremes''. A 1984 honors graduate of
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, Kates worked for several years at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government writing public policy case-studies. She is a former producer of the PBS series '' Computer Chronicles'', and has worked as a producer, writer, and story consultant on various documentary projects. She also speaks frequently at schools, colleges and universities."Project Team: Nancy D. Kates"
''Regarding Susan Sontag''


Awards

''Brother Outsider'' *Outstanding Documentary.
GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...
, 2004 *Silver Hugo Award. Chicago International Television Competition, 2004
American Library Association Notable Videos for Adults, 2004
*Jury Award for Best Documentary. Icelandic Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, 2004
CINE Golden Eagle
2003 *Audience Award for Best Documentary. 27th
San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival The Frameline Film Festival (aka San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival) (formerly San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival; San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival) began as a storefront event in 1976. The first ...
, 2003 *Best Documentary.
Cinequest San Jose Film Festival The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is an annual independent film festival held each March in San Jose, California and Redwood City, California. The international festival combines the cinematic arts with Silicon Valley’s innovation. It is ...
, 2003 *Outstanding Documentary Feature (tie). Outfest: Los Angeles Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2003 *Audience Award for Best Feature
New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
2003 *Best Documentary Award
Turin International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2003 *Jury Award for Best Documentary
Chicago Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
2003 *Audience Award for Best Documentary.
Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Philadelphia QFest was founded in Philadelphia as the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival by TLA Entertainment Group in 1995. It was given its current name, QFest, in 2009. One of the festival's founders and current Artistic Director, Raymond ...
, 2003 *First Prize in Documentary.
Rhode Island Film Festival Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. History Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the ...
, 2003 *Jury Award for Best Documentary.
Athens International Film Festival
2003 *Audience Award for Best Documentary. Pittsburgh Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, 2003 *Audience Award for Best Documentary
Indianapolis Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
2003 ''Their Own Vietnam'' * Student Academy Award, Documentary. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1995 *Certificate of Merit. David Wolper/International Documentary Association, 1995 *Merit Award.
South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...
, 1996 *Emerging Artists Award
Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival
1996 *Second Prize, Documentary. UFVA Film and Video Festival, 1996 *Athena Award (for achievement in Lesbian Film), Documentary, 1996 *Women’s Programming Award. Humboldt International Film Festival, 1996 *Award of Merit. Sinking Creek Film Festival, Nashville, 1996 ''Castro Cowboy'' *Director's Choice Award
Black Maria Film Festival
1993 *Judge’s Special Merit Award
New England Film and Video Festival
1993 *Bronze Apple Award. National Educational Film and Video Festival, 1993


Works

*''Joining the Tribe'' *''Married People'' *''Going to Extremes'' *''Castro Cowboy'' (1992). 7 minutes *''Their Own Vietnam'' (1995). 23 minutes *''Vale of Tears'' (2002). 4 minutes *''Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin'' (2003) 84 minutes


External links

*
Regarding Susan Sontag
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Brother Outsider
' *
Nancy Kates Wordpress Blog
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Nancy Kates IMDB
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References

*Pittsburgh International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Record

Pittsburgh International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Records, 1983-1994, CTC.1994.02, Curtis Theatre Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kates, Nancy Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Stanford University alumni American women film directors Harvard University alumni 21st-century American women