Pietra Brettkelly

Pietra Brettkelly is a New Zealand documentary director and producer, whose work has featured in four of the five top international film festivals - Sundance, Berlin, Venice and Toronto. Best known for the films A Flickering Truth and The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins,^[1] Brettkelly was a journalist before becoming a filmmaker and her work has taken her to nearly 100 countries.^[2]

Brettkelly's most recent film, A Flickering Truth, which documents the unearthing of the Afghan Film Archive in Kabul, Afghanistan, premiered at the 2015 Venice Film Festival to great critical acclaim. The Hollywood Reporter's Deborah Young praised the film, describing it as "a documentary not just for archivists but for those who see film as a vital part of local culture,^[3]"while Indiewire’s Eric Kohn called the movie an "eye-opening documentary ... a moving navigation of Afghanistan’s past and present.^[4]"

When filming in southern Sudan in 2006 for the television documentary series Ends of the Earth for Television New Zealand, Brettkelly met Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft. Beecroft is famous for her provocative performance art, and while in Sudan for a project had decided to try and adopt motherless twins.^[5] Brettkelly had previously produced a documentary on international adoption, The Rescue of Iani and, along with cameraman Jacob Bryant, eventually followed Beecroft's adoption efforts over 16 months, which formed the basis for The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins.^[6]

Wrote Variety’s Peter Debruge: “Pietra Brettkelly’s enigmatic rendering…is not a straightforward artist’s profile, political commentary or domestic drama, but a poetic fusion of the three.^[7]”

Filmography

• A Flickering Truth (2015) premiered at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and also screened as the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
• Maori Boy Genius follows Ngaa Rauuira Pumanawawhiti, a 16-year-old prodigy who travels from rural New Zealand to the United States of America after being accepted to Summer School at Yale. The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, and won a Moa award in 2012 for Best Documentary.
• The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In 2009 Brettkelly was invited to screen the film at the New York's Museum of Modern Art as part of their documentary fortnight.^[8] The Winnipeg Free Press noted that "any tendency for the observer to mock [Beecroft's] self-indulgence is mitigated by director Pietra Brettkelly's scrupulous acknowledgement of Beecroft's self-awareness."^[9]
• In 2003 Brettkelly travelled to Libya for that country’s first ever beauty pageant. Beauty Will Save the World follows 19-year-old Teca Zendik, the American contender, and featured an interview with Muammar Gaddafi. Beauty Will Save The World premiered at the AFI Film Festival in October 2003,^[10] and was shown at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam in 2004.^[11]
• Ends of the Earth: A four-part documentary series searching out New Zealanders living in some of the world's more extreme locations. The episodes were filmed in Afghanistan, the Amazon, Kazakhstan, the Arctic Circle, Sudan, Uganda and were presented by Paul Henry.
• The Rescue of Iani Part 1 & 2, TV3 New Zealand.

Music for many of Brettkelly's documentaries has been composed by musician and singer Anika Moa, with Benjamin Wallfisch composing for her latest A Flickering Truth.

Festivals and awards

• Best Editing, Sundance - The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins. World Cinema Documentary (Editor: Irena Dol)
• Best Director, EIDF Seoul Korea - The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins.
• Best Documentary, Whistler Film Festival, Canada - The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins.
• Special Jury Prize, Zurich Film Festival
• Producer Award, New Zealand Film Commission - The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins.
• Best Director, Documentary; Best Arts/Festival Documentary; Best Editing (Irena Dol), Qantas Film & Television Awards, New Zealand, 2009^[12]
• Moa Film Award - Maori Boy Genius, 2012

References

1. Booth, William (2008-01-24). "From Sudan to Sundance, 'Art Star' Questions Celebrity". The Washington Post.
2. "Making A Difference: Mentoring in Action" (PDF). Women in Film and Television Magazine. Summer 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
3. Young, Deborah. "'A Flickering Truth': Venice Review". Retrieved 2015-09-22.
4. Kohn, Eric. "Memo to Distributors: Buy These 2015 Toronto International Film Festival Movies". Retrieved 2015-09-24.
5. Koppelman, Charles (May 4, 2008). "A Work in Progress". LA Times. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
6. Chocano, Carina (January 25, 2008). "Intersecting (and dissecting) cultures on film: 'The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins' ". LA Times. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
7. Debruge, Peter. "The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins". Retrieved 2015-09-24.
8. "The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins". Moma.org. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
9. King, Randall (30 June 2009). "Doc finds shades of grey". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
10. Chatelin, Bruno (14 October 2003). "AFI focus on middle east: beyond conflict". Filmfestivals.com. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
11. "Beauty Will Save the World". International Documentary Film Festival. Amsterdam. 2004. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
12. "Qantas Film and Television Awards 2009 Winners". qantasfilmandtvawards.co.nz. Retrieved May 23, 2010.

External links

• Official website for The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins
• The Art Star and The Sudanese Twins - Review Variety January 21, 2008
• Profile on Pietra Brettkelly www.nowtoronto.com
• "Q&A: Pietra Brettkelly". The Big Idea. 18 July 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
• Lin, Kelly (Autumn 2008). "Making Movies: Pietra Brettkelly" (PDF). Women in Film and Television Magazine. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
• A Flickering Truth - Review: The Hollywood Reporter, September 20, 2015.