Marshall Curry (born ) is an Oscar-winning American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include '' Street Fight'', '' Racing Dreams'', '' If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front'', ''Point and Shoot'', and ''

A Night at the Garden ''A Night at the Garden'' is a 2017 short documentary film about the 1939 Nazi rally that filled Madison Square Garden in New York City. The film was directed by Marshall Curry from footage found by archival producer Rich Remsberg, and was p ...

''. His first fiction film was the

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 ...

-winning short film '' The Neighbors' Window'' (2019).

Life and career

Curry grew up in Summit, New Jersey, graduating from Summit High School in 1988.Cahillane, Kevin
"In Person: The Smartest Guy in Summit?
, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. March 5, 2006. Accessed October 14, 2018. "So, for one night at least -- the Oscars are Sunday night -- Summit will be in the spotlight as Mr. Gibney joins Marshall Curry (Summit High School class of 1988 and director of the film "Street Fight," about the 2002 Newark mayoral election) as an Academy Award nominee in the Best Feature Documentary category." He attended Swarthmore College, graduating in 1992 with a major in

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

., a January 25, 2012 article from Swarthmore College News He was also a Jane Addams Fellow at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

’s Center on Philanthropy. Before becoming a filmmaker, Curry worked as senior producer at Icon Nicholson, a New York multimedia design firm. Curry's first film, ''Street Fight'', was released in 2005 and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2006. The film received a 100% fresh rating from

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. It was called "extraordinary" by David Denby (The New Yorker), and was described as "vastly entertaining" by John Anderson of ''Variety'', and "filmmaking of the first order" by Scott Foundas of ''LA Weekly''. That year he was named one of "25 New Faces in Independent Film" by Filmmaker Magazine and received the Donnet Award for Emerging Filmmaker by the International Documentary Association. In 2009, his second film, '' Racing Dreams'', won Best Documentary at the 2009

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

, where it was also runner up for the Audience Award. It received a 100% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes. The film was called "The best film of the year" by ''The Los Angeles Times'' and "one of the rare documentaries you leave wishing it was a little longer" by ''The New York Times''. In 2011, '' If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front'' won the award for Best Documentary Editing at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, was theatrically released by Oscilloscope Laboratories and earned Curry his second Academy Award nomination.

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

of ''The Los Angeles Times'' called it "one of the best documentaries of the year" and ''The New York Times'' described it as "an extraordinary documentary... fearless exploration of complexity in a world drawn to oversimplified depictions of events and problems, heroes and villains." In 2014, Curry's film ''Point and Shoot'' won Best Documentary at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically by The Orchard. The film was given an "A" grade by John Anderson of ''Indiewire'', who said it was "a virtual swashbuckler". It was called "brilliantly constructed and provocative" by Peter Keough of ''The Boston Globe'', "riveting... an extraordinary and quietly disturbing film" by David Rooney of ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and Jay Weissberg of ''Variety'' said the "editing is a standout." In 2017, Curry released the Academy Award nominated short film ''

'', a documentary about a 1939

German American Bund The German American Bund, or the German American Federation (german: Amerikadeutscher Bund; Amerikadeutscher Volksbund, AV), was a German-American Nazi organization which was established in 1936 as a successor to the Friends of New Germany (FoN ...

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sport ...

at Madison Square Garden, which attracted 20,000 Nazi supporters. Curry said of the film, "It tells a story about our country that we’d prefer to forget." Curry's first narrative, the short film, '' The Neighbors' Window'', premiered at the

in April 2019. It won the

Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under various names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, "Best Short Subject, One- ...

at the

92nd Academy Awards The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 p ...

. Curry lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York.

Filmography

Awards

'' Street Fight''

, Best Documentary Feature (nominee) * Emmy Award, Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story: Long Form (nominee) *

, Audience Award (winner) * Hot Docs Film Festival, Audience Award (winner) * Hot Docs Film Festival, Best International Documentary (winner) *AFI/Discovery Silverdocs Film Festival, Audience Award (winner) *

Ashland Independent Film Festival The Ashland Independent Film Festival is held in Ashland, Oregon, United States. It has been organized by the non-profit Southern Oregon Film Society since 2001. Founded by D.W. and Steve Wood, the festival is held each spring over five days at th ...

, Best Documentary (winner) *WatchDocs Human Rights International Film Festival, Audience Award (winner) *

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, Award for Excellence in Television (winner) *Cine, Golden Eagle Award (winner) *IDA, Jacqueline Donnet Filmmaker Award (winner) *IDA, Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award (nominee) *

Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, play ...

(nominee) *

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

, VRT Notable Videos

'' Racing Dreams''

*Tribeca Film Festival, Best Documentary (winner) *

Nashville Film Festival The Nashville Film Festival (NashFilm), held annually in Nashville, Tennessee, is the oldest running film festival in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. In 2016, Nashville Film Festival received more than 6,700 submissions from ...

, Best Documentary (winner) *

Florida Film Festival The Florida Film Festival, produced by Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida, is an annual international film festival. Overview The Festival includes narrative and documentary features and shorts, animation, midnight movies, and educational forum ...

, Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature (winner) * Indianapolis International Film Festival, Audience Award (winner) *

, Silver Hugo Award (winner) *

Jacksonville Film Festival The Jacksonville Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Jacksonville, Florida. Founded in 2002, the festival screens in competition and out-of-competition American and international independent films. According to the '' Daily Record'', ...

, Best Documentary (winner)

'' If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front''

, Best Documentary Feature (nominee) * Sundance Film Festival, Best Documentary Editing (winner) *

Dallas International Film Festival The Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF), presented by Dallas Film, is an annual film festival that takes place in Dallas, Texas. About Dallas Film Dallas Film, established as Dallas Film Society, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ...

, Environmental Visions Award (winner) * Miami International Film Festival, Knight Dox Competition Grand Jury Prize (nominee)If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front - Awards - IMDb
/ref> * Miami International Film Festival, Knight Dox Competition Special Mention (winner) *

, Best Documentary (winner) *

Traverse City Film Festival The Traverse City Film Festival is an annual film festival held at the end of July in Traverse City, Michigan. The festival was created as an annual event in 2005 to help “save one of America's few indigenous art forms—the cinema". The event ...

, Founders Award for Best Documentary (winner) *Santa Cruz Film Festival, Earthvision Environmental Jury Prize (winner) *Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival, Best Feature (winner) *

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 ...

Award, Moving Image

'' Point and Shoot''

*Tribeca Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature (winner) * Emmy Award, Outstanding Graphic Design & Art Direction (nominee) *

Gotham Award The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

, Best Documentary Feature (nominee) *IDA Documentary Award, Best Documentary Feature (nominee) *

Cinema Eye Honors The Cinema Eye Honors are awards recognizing excellence in nonfiction or documentary filmmaking and include awards for the disciplines of directing, producing, cinematography and editing. The awards are presented each January in New York and have b ...

, Outstanding Achievement in Editing (nominee) *Independent Film Festival Boston, Special Jury Prize (winner) * Little Rock Film Festival, Special Jury Prize for Courage in Filmmaking (winner)

''
A Night at the Garden ''A Night at the Garden'' is a 2017 short documentary film about the 1939 Nazi rally that filled Madison Square Garden in New York City. The film was directed by Marshall Curry from footage found by archival producer Rich Remsberg, and was p ...
''

, Best Documentary Short (nominee)

'' The Neighbors' Window''

, Best Live Action Short (Winner) *Palm Springs Shorts Fest, Best Live Action Short (Winner - Audience Award) *Casting Society Artios Awards - Short Film Casting (nominee) *Traverse City Film Festival, Best Fiction Short (Winner - Audience Award) *Hollyshorts Film Festival, Best Drama (Winner) *SCAD Savannah Film Festival, Best Narrative Short (Winner) *St. Louis International Film Festival, Best of the Fest (Winner) *Nashville Film Festival, Best Narrative Short (Winner) *Rhode Island Film Festival, Best Live Action Short (Winner) *Woodstock Film Festival, Best Short Film (Winner)

References

External links

*
Marshall Curry websiteMarshall Curry on Twitter''Street Fight'' website''Racing Dreams'' website''If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front'' website''Point and Shoot'' website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Curry, Marshall American documentary film directors People from Summit, New Jersey People from Brooklyn Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Swarthmore College alumni Film directors from New York City Film directors from New Jersey Summit High School (New Jersey) alumni Directors of Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners