Greg Barker
Greg Barker is an American documentary filmmaker and producer. In 2011, The New York Times described Barker as “a filmmaker of artistic and political consequence.”
His works include Manhunt, about the CIA’s secret war against Al Qaeda and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2013, in the U.S. Documentary Competition.
Previous films include Sergio (short-listed in 2010 for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, winner of the Best Editing Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival); Koran By Heart (winner of the Top Jury Prize at the 2012 Banff Film Festival); and Ghosts of Rwanda (winner of the 2004 DuPont Columbia award and The Robert F. Kennedy Award for International Reporting).
Life and career
A native Californian, Barker earned a BA in economics from George Washington University and a MSc in International Relations from The London School of Economics.
He lived in London for most of his adult life, and became a freelance journalist and war correspondent, working with organizations such as CNN, BBC and Reuters. He turned to filmmaking in 1998, and made a string of international films for the flagship PBS television series Frontline. Barker spent seven years researching the Rwandan genocide, which resulted in the feature-length Frontline documentary Ghosts of Rwanda, which won numerous awards and established his reputation. Barker, produced and directed one or more episodes of the PBS series God in America, using the PBS branded voice Campbell Scott, the series has been updated to the point of President Barack Obama's inauguration.
In 1998, Barker began working closely with the feature documentary producers John Battsek of Passion Pictures and Julie Goldman of Motto Pictures. Together they have made Sergio, Koran By Heart, and the forthcoming Manhunt, all of which Barker directed for HBO Documentary Films.
He is attached to direct his first narrative feature, A Rope and a Prayer, for HBO Films.
Barker now lives in California and is married to the soprano Harriet Fraser.
Filmography (as director)
- We Are the Giant (2014)
- Manhunt (2013)
- Koran By Heart (2011)
- Sergio (2009)
- Showdown with Iran (2007)
- The Age of Aids (2006)
- Ghosts of Rwanda (2004)
- Campaign Against Terror (2002)
- The Commanding Heights (2001)
- The Survival of Saddam (2000)
References
John Anderson (January 19, 2009) "Sergio" Variety Retrieved 18 March 2010
A War-Hardened American Filmmaker Delves Into Islam - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/30/us/30religion.html
Kenneth Turan (January 17, 2009) "Greg Barker's 'Sergo". Los Angeles Times Retrieved 18 March 2010
Barker attached to helm HBO's 'Rope' - Entertainment News, TV News, Media — Variety http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118047024?refCatId=14
Reviews and Interviews
Filmmaker Greg Barker Pays Homage to Humanitarian Sergio Vieira de Mello Venice Magazine
Greg Barker, “Sergio”: Politics, War, and Moral Complexity Indiewire
Meet the Artists: Greg Barker YouTube
External links
- Sergio website Website for Barker's film Sergio
- Silverbridge Productions website Website for Barker's production company
- Appearances on C-SPAN
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