Robert Gardner
Born: 1925-11-05 in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA
Died: 2014-06-21
Known For: Directing
Biography
Robert Gardner was the Director of the Film Study Center at Harvard University from 1957 to 1997. He is known for his work in the field of non-fiction film. He is an internationally renowned filmmaker and author whose works have entered the permanent canon of non-fiction filmmaking. Some of his most prominent films include Dead Birds (1964), a lyric account of the Dugum Dani, a Stone Age society at one time living an isolated existence in the Highlands of the former Netherlands New Guinea (Gardner was the leader of the Peabody Museum-sponsored expedition to study the Dani in 1961-62); Rivers of Sand (1974), a social commentary on the Hamar people of southwestern Ethiopia; and Forest of Bliss (1985), a cinematic essay on the ancient city of Benares, India, which explores the ceremonies, rituals, and industries associated with death and regeneration. Gardner’s films have received numerous awards, including the Robert J. Flaherty Award for best nonfiction film (twice); the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Florence Film Festival (three times); and First Prizes at the Trento, USA Dallas, Melbourne, Nuoro, EarthWatch, Athens, and San Francisco film festivals. His films have been invited to Festivals throughout the world including Jerusalem, Bergen, London, Munich, Toronto, Montreal, Margaret Mead, Marseilles, Locarno, Chicago and Cinema du Réel.
Filmography
2022
- Expedition Content ... (Additional Photography)
2010
- Still Journey On ... (Director)
- Deus Ex Boltanski ... (Director)
2003
2001
- Islam: Empire of Faith ... (Director)
2000
- Looking at Forest of Bliss as Himself
- Pilot Notes: Journals Of A Solitary Aviator ... (Cinematography)
- Good to Pull (Bon a Tirer) ... (Director)
1998
- Sean Scully: Passenger ... (Director)
1997
- Sean Scully: Testigos AKA The Witnesses ... (Director)
- Scully in Malaga ... (Director)
- It Could Be Good, It Could Be Bad ... (Director)
1993
- Time Indefinite as Himself
- Dancing with Miklos ... (Director)
1988
- Ika Hands ... (Director)
- Hauling Sharks ... (Director)
1986
- Forest of Bliss ... (Director)
1985
- Serpent Mother as Narrator
- Loving Krishna as Narrator
- Sons of Shiva ... (Director)
- Supplicating Women ... (Director)
- Life Keeps on Passing ... (Director)
1981
- The Shepherds of Berneray ... (Executive Producer)
1980
- Deep Hearts ... (Director)
1979
- Q'eros: The Shape of Survival as Narrator
1978
- Healing ... (Director)
1976
- Altar of Fire ... (Director)
1974
- Rivers of Sand ... (Director)
1973
- Mark Tobey Abroad ... (Director)
- Policeman ... (Director)
- Anthem ... (Director)
- Lobsterman ... (Director)
- Farmer ... (Director)
1972
- Screening Room as Himself
- Land-Divers of Melanesia ... (Director)
- Reality's Invisible as Self
1970
- The Nuer ... (Producer)
1968
- Salt ... (Director)
- Creatures of Pain ... (Director)
1966
- Tide ... (Director)
- The Photographer ... (Director)
- The Great Sail ... (Director)
1965
- Marathon ... (Director)
- People and Particles ... (Producer)
1963
- Dead Birds as Narrator
1960
- Flaherty and Film as Self - Host
1958
- The Old Lady AKA A Human Document ... (Director)
1957
- The Hunters ... (Director)
1952
- Mark Tobey ... (Director)
1951
- Blunden Harbour ... (Director)
- Dances of the Kwakiutl ... (Producer)
- Fort Rupert as Narrator