Ofra Bikel (born in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

) is a documentary filmmaker, and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

. For more than two decades she was a mainstay of the acclaimed PBS series FRONTLINE producing over 25 award-winning documentaries, ranging from foreign affairs to critiques of the U.S. criminal justice system. She graduated from the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

and the

Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

. She was married briefly to actor and folk singer,

Theodore Bikel Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He appeared in films, including '' The African Queen'' (1951), ''Moulin Rouge'' (1952), ' ...

. She was a researcher for ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', and

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

. She moved to public television, producing films for the

WGBH WGBH may refer to: * WGBH Educational Foundation, based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States ** WGBH (FM), a public radio station at Boston, Massachusetts on 89.7 MHz owned by the WGBH Educational Foundation ** WGBH-TV WGBH-TV (channel 2), ...

series World and later for the long-running series ''

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

''. In the mid-1970s, Bikel moved to her native Israel and produced more than 15 films. She returned to the U.S. in 1977. Her documentary films intersperse long interviews with sharp, silent, moments.

Awards

* 2007

John Chancellor Award John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism is an annual award of $25,000 selected by a panel of journalists, for courageous and sustained reporting. Established in 1995, the award was formerly administered by the University of Pennsylvania ...

* 2003

The Hillman Prize The Hillman Prize is a journalism award given out annually by The Sidney Hillman Foundation, named for noted American labor leader Sidney Hillman. It is given to "journalists, writers and public figures who pursue social justice and public polic ...

* 2002

Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered ...

* 2002

Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism is a journalism award named after Robert F. Kennedy and awarded by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. The annual awards are issued in several categories and were est ...

* 2002

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 ...

Outstanding Investigative Journalism—Long Form * 2000 NACDL Champion Of Justice Award * 1994 Grand Prize at the

Banff World Television Festival The Banff World Media Festival (formerly known as the Banff World Television Festival) is an international media event held in the Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The festival is dedicated to world ...

Works

* The Confessions, 2010 * Close to Home, 2009 * The Hugo Chávez Show, November 2008 * When Kids Get Life, 2007 * The Unexpected Candidate, March 2006 * The O.J. Verdict (2005) * The Plea (2004) * Requiem for Frank Lee Smith (2002) * Saving Elian (2001) * The Case for Innocence, January 2000 * Snitch (1999) * The Search for Satan (1995) * Divided Memories (1995) * Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill: Public Hearing, Private Pain (1992) * Poland—The Morning After (1990) * American Games, Japanese Rules (1988) * Israel: The Price of Victory (1987) * The Russians Are Here (1983) * Who Killed Sadat? (1982) * Innocence Lost: The Plea (1997) * Innocence Lost: The Verdict (1993) * Innocence Lost (1991)

References

External links

"PBS Frontline: 'The Hugo Chavez Show'"
''The Washington Post'', 26 November 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bikel, Ofra American television producers American women television producers University of Paris alumni Sciences Po alumni Emmy Award winners Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Israeli expatriates in France Israeli emigrants to the United States 21st-century American women