Sam Green is an American documentary filmmaker. His most recent projects are “live documentaries” in which he narrates a film in-person while musicians perform a live soundtrack. His 2018 project ''A Thousand Thoughts'' features a live score by the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

, and his 2012 project ''The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller'' featured a live score by the band

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James M ...

. Green's 2004 film ''

The Weather Underground The Weather Underground was a Far-left politics, far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organiz ...

'' was nominated for an

Academy Award 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 ...

, included in the

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...

, and broadcast nationally on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Early life

Green was raised in

East Lansing, Michigan East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County, Michigan, Clinton County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, and is a graduate of

East Lansing High School East Lansing High School is a public high school in the city of East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It is managed by the East Lansing Public Schools district. The school is located about a mile north of the Michigan State University campus. ...

. He earned his undergraduate degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, Ann Arbor. He received his master's degree in journalism from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he studied documentary with filmmaker

Marlon Riggs Marlon Troy Riggs (February 3, 1957 – April 5, 1994) was a Black gay filmmaker, educator, poet, and activist. He produced, wrote, and directed several documentary films, including '' Ethnic Notions'', ''Tongues Untied'', '' Color Adjustment'' ...

Career

One of Green's earliest films, ''The Rainbow Man/John 3:16'', focuses on the life of

Rollen Stewart Rollen Fredrick Stewart (born February 23, 1944), also known as Rock'n Rollen and Rainbow Man, is a man who was a fixture in American sports culture best known for wearing a rainbow-colored afro-style wig and, later, holding up signs reading " Joh ...

, who became famous during the 1970s by appearing at thousands of televised sporting events wearing a rainbow-colored wig. The film premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, where director of programming Trevor Groth described it as "a parable about alienation, the media, and the meaninglessness that often defines American life." Green received the

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has commi ...

Moving Image Award in 2001. Green's feature-length documentary film ''

'' focused on the group of violent extremists of the same name, who during the late 1960s and '70s attempted to violently overthrow the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

government. The film premiered 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 was nominated for a 2003

Academy Award for Documentary Feature The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to '' Kukan'' and ''Target for Tonight''. They have since been best ...

category. The award winning film interweaves extensive archival material with modern-day interviews to explore the story of the Weather Underground. ''The New York Times'' film critic Elvis Mitchell called the documentary a "terrifically smart and solid piece of film-making." Sam Green's documentary ''Utopia in Four Movements'' (2010) also premiered at the

, in the category entitled "New Frontiers." In this "live" documentary, Green narrates the 75-minute film while a live band performs the soundtrack; the film examines various topics, including an American exile in Cuba, the world's largest shopping mall (located in China), the treatment of mass graves, and the history of the man-made language

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

. Green’s 2012 live documentary, ''The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller,'' is a portrait of the theorist and designer

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

and features a live soundtrack by the band

. The piece combines in-person narration and live music alongside projected film clips and photographs. It was commissioned by the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

and premiered at the

San Francisco Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

in May 2012. Green’s 2014 live documentary, entitled '' The Measure of All Things,'' is based very loosely on the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

''. The piece premiered at the 2014

and is screened with live scores by the chamber group yMusic and a trio made up of

Brendan Canty Brendan John Canty (born March 9, 1966, in Teaneck, New Jersey) is an American musician, composer, producer and film maker, best known as the drummer for the band Fugazi. In 2007, ''Stylus Magazine'' ranked Canty at #29 on the list of "50 Gre ...

(

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...

), T. Griffin, and Catherine McRae. Green's 2018 live documentary, ''A Thousand Thoughts'', chronicles the multi-decade career of the

. The piece premiered at the 2018

and won the

audience award. The piece is screened with a live score performed by the Kronos Quartet. ''32 Sounds'', Green's most recent live documentary, is a collaboration with electronic musician

JD Samson JD Samson (born August 4, 1978), stage name of Jocelyn Samson is an American musician, producer, songwriter and DJ best known as a member of the bands Le Tigre and MEN. Background Samson grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, and attended Orange High ...

. The film, which premiered at the 2022

and played at

SXSW 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, Te ...

2022, is described as a "meditation on the power of sound to bend time, cross borders, and profoundly shape our perception of the world around us".

Filmography

*''32 Sounds'' with

(2022) *''Annea Lockwood/a Film About Listening'' (2021) *''7 Sounds'' with

(2021) *''Don’t Call Me Gay Zelig'' with live music by

(2019) *''A Thousand Thoughts'' with the

(2018) * ''Julius Caesar was Buried in a Pet Cemetery'' (2018) * ''This is What the Future Looked Like'', co-directed with

Gary Hustwit Gary Hustwit is an American independent filmmaker and photographer. He is best known for his design documentaries, which examine the impact of trends in graphic design, typography, industrial design, architecture, and urban planning. He told '' ...

(2017) * ''Brent Green/Sam Green: Live Cinema'' (2016) * '' The Measure of All Things'', with the chamber music group yMusic and a trio made up of Brendan Canty (Fugazi), T. Griffin, and Catherine McRae (2014) *''A Cinematic Study of Fog in San Francisco,'' co-directed with Andy Black (2013) * ''Love Letter to the Fog'' (2013) *''The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller'', with the band

(2012) * ''

The Universal Language ''The Universal Language'' is a short comedic play written by David Ives. The play is part of the collection of plays called ''All in the Timing.'' The show features two characters, Don and Dawn. Don is a con artist trying to swindle customers int ...

'' (2011) * ''(Commissioned) Portrait of Las Vegas'' (2011) * ''Utopia in Four Movements'', co-directed with Dave Cerf (2010) * ''Utopia, Part 3: The World's Largest Shopping Mall'', co-directed with Carrie Lozano (2009) * ''Clear Glasses'' (2008) * ''Lot 63, Grave C'' (2006) * ''N-Judah 5:30'' (2004) * ''

'' (2003) * ''Pie Fight '69'', co-directed with Christian Bruno (2000) * ''The Fabulous Stains: Behind the Movie'', co-directed with

Sarah Jacobson Sarah Jacobson (August 25, 1971 – February 13, 2004) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Early life Jacobson was born in Connecticut, moved to New Jersey in 1975, then to Edina, Minnesota in 1982. She graduated with ho ...

(1999) * ''The Rainbow Man/John 3:16'' (1997)

References

External links

Official websiteVimeoInterview with Believer MagazineInterview with IndiewireInterview with Extended PlayInterview with Houston Cinema Arts SocietyInterview with Pure NonfictionInterview with Film Comment
{{authority control Living people American documentary filmmakers University of Michigan alumni Year of birth missing (living people)