Pietra Brettkelly is a Sundance award-winning and three times Oscar-selected director, writer and producer in both Documentary and Best International Film. She is the inaugural New Zealand Arts Laureate in Documentary and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Her films have premiered In Competition at five of the world’s top six film festivals and a collection of her films have screened at the Uffizi Gallery, Florence and at MOMA, New York. Pietra didn’t attend film school; a life following her curiosity and risk-taking encouraged in her upbringing became her film school. To paraphrase one of her favourite artists Basquiat “I never went to film school. I just looked.”. Pietra specialises in making unique, intimate cinematic work that open windows into another world. Her work has a considered quietness, a non-judgmental approach that allows my subjects to tell their stories. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INCLUDE -Winston Churchill Trust Fellow - New Zealand Arts Laureate -The Oscars Best Foreign Film 2018, New Zealand selection -The Oscars Best Documentary 2018 -Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars) -NZFC Producer’s Award, Women In Film Best Documentary 2016 -The Oscars Best Foreign Film 2015, New Zealand selection -Qantas Film and Television Best Documentary Director -Best Director at EIDF Seoul, Korea -Best Documentary Whistler Film Festival, Canada -Special Jury Prize Zurich Film Festival -Best Feature Documentary Human Rights Film Festival, Jordan -Best Documentary Warsaw International Film Festival.
