Da Pennebaker, the Academy Award-nominated director of 60 documentaries whose career encompassed more than 50 years, has died at the age of 94. A seminal figure of the cinema vérité movement, Pennebaker helmed such nonfiction masterpieces as “Monterey Pop,” “The War Room,” and “Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back,” bringing his canny eye upon everything from 1960s counterculture to the urgent political issues of the day. He is survived by his wife and frequent collaborator Chris Hegedus. Pennebaker died of natural causes on August 1, according to his son, Frazer Pennebaker.
In tribute to the late filmmaker, IndieWire has assembled five must-see films from Pennebaker’s prolific catalogue.
“Primary” (1960)
Pennebaker edited Robert Drew’s groundbreaking 1960 “Primary,” which plunges us into the 1960 Wisconsin primary election face-off between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, as they vie for the presidency. With its handheld camerawork and intimate proximity to its subjects, this was a groundbreaking moment for documentary film,...
In tribute to the late filmmaker, IndieWire has assembled five must-see films from Pennebaker’s prolific catalogue.
“Primary” (1960)
Pennebaker edited Robert Drew’s groundbreaking 1960 “Primary,” which plunges us into the 1960 Wisconsin primary election face-off between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey, as they vie for the presidency. With its handheld camerawork and intimate proximity to its subjects, this was a groundbreaking moment for documentary film,...
- 8/3/2019
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Filed under: Celebrity Interviews, Cinematical
The films of D.A. Pennebaker, now 85 years old, comprise one of the most formidable oeuvres of any non-fiction filmmaker. While concert documentaries like 'Don't Look Back' (1967), 'Monterey Pop' (1968) and 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars' (1973) are probably Pennebaker's most famous works, recent collaborations with wife Chris Hegedus, like 'The War Room' (1993) and 'Startup.com' (2001), have proven the durability of their brand of cinema vérité filmmaking.
Making roughly a film per year, Pennebaker and Hegedus have collaborated on numerous documentaries with their signature unobtrusive "fly on the wall" approach to filming. It allows them to better capture their subjects in their environment, reserving judgment for the editing room afterwards.
Pennebaker and Hegedus' new collaboration is 'Kings of Pastry' (2009), a new vérité doc that follows Jacquy Pfeiffer, a Chicago-based French pastry chef and founder of the French Pastry School in Chicago.
The films of D.A. Pennebaker, now 85 years old, comprise one of the most formidable oeuvres of any non-fiction filmmaker. While concert documentaries like 'Don't Look Back' (1967), 'Monterey Pop' (1968) and 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars' (1973) are probably Pennebaker's most famous works, recent collaborations with wife Chris Hegedus, like 'The War Room' (1993) and 'Startup.com' (2001), have proven the durability of their brand of cinema vérité filmmaking.
Making roughly a film per year, Pennebaker and Hegedus have collaborated on numerous documentaries with their signature unobtrusive "fly on the wall" approach to filming. It allows them to better capture their subjects in their environment, reserving judgment for the editing room afterwards.
Pennebaker and Hegedus' new collaboration is 'Kings of Pastry' (2009), a new vérité doc that follows Jacquy Pfeiffer, a Chicago-based French pastry chef and founder of the French Pastry School in Chicago.
- 9/22/2010
- by Simon Abrams
- Moviefone
Filed under: Celebrity Interviews, Cinematical
The films of D.A. Pennebaker, now 85 years old, comprise one of the most formidable oeuvres of any non-fiction filmmaker. While concert documentaries like 'Don't Look Back' (1967), 'Monterey Pop' (1968) and 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars' (1973) are probably Pennebaker's most famous works, recent collaborations with wife Chris Hegedus, like 'The War Room' (1993) and 'Startup.com' (2001), have proven the durability of their brand of cinema vérité filmmaking.
Making roughly a film per year, Pennebaker and Hegedus have collaborated on numerous documentaries with their signature unobtrusive "fly on the wall" approach to filming. It allows them to better capture their subjects in their environment, reserving judgment for the editing room afterwards.
Pennebaker and Hegedus' new collaboration is 'Kings of Pastry' (2009), a new vérité doc that follows Jacquy Pfeiffer, a Chicago-based French pastry chef and founder of the French Pastry School in Chicago.
The films of D.A. Pennebaker, now 85 years old, comprise one of the most formidable oeuvres of any non-fiction filmmaker. While concert documentaries like 'Don't Look Back' (1967), 'Monterey Pop' (1968) and 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars' (1973) are probably Pennebaker's most famous works, recent collaborations with wife Chris Hegedus, like 'The War Room' (1993) and 'Startup.com' (2001), have proven the durability of their brand of cinema vérité filmmaking.
Making roughly a film per year, Pennebaker and Hegedus have collaborated on numerous documentaries with their signature unobtrusive "fly on the wall" approach to filming. It allows them to better capture their subjects in their environment, reserving judgment for the editing room afterwards.
Pennebaker and Hegedus' new collaboration is 'Kings of Pastry' (2009), a new vérité doc that follows Jacquy Pfeiffer, a Chicago-based French pastry chef and founder of the French Pastry School in Chicago.
- 9/22/2010
- by Simon Abrams
- Cinematical
by Steve Dollar
There are no tears in pastry, says Jacquy Pfeiffer, the cofounder of Chicago's French Pastry School and star of Kings of Pastry. The new documentary, from the illustrious filmmaking team of Da Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, follows the affable Frechman as he ventures into his own culinary war room: the fevered competition for the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, which for the 16 chefs who make it into the finals each year might as well be the Nobel Prize in the art and science of patisserie.
Just as there's no omelette without some broken eggs, the contest pushes each chef to the absolute limit. As the cameras follow Pfeiffer through the arduous process—bolstered by his exceedingly patient and devoted girlfriend, Rachel—the story becomes a confectionary cliffhanger, as marvelous and terrifyingly fragile sugar sculptures teeter in peril. Even the world's greatest butter-and-egg men are humbled by the Olympian...
There are no tears in pastry, says Jacquy Pfeiffer, the cofounder of Chicago's French Pastry School and star of Kings of Pastry. The new documentary, from the illustrious filmmaking team of Da Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, follows the affable Frechman as he ventures into his own culinary war room: the fevered competition for the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, which for the 16 chefs who make it into the finals each year might as well be the Nobel Prize in the art and science of patisserie.
Just as there's no omelette without some broken eggs, the contest pushes each chef to the absolute limit. As the cameras follow Pfeiffer through the arduous process—bolstered by his exceedingly patient and devoted girlfriend, Rachel—the story becomes a confectionary cliffhanger, as marvelous and terrifyingly fragile sugar sculptures teeter in peril. Even the world's greatest butter-and-egg men are humbled by the Olympian...
- 9/17/2010
- GreenCine Daily
Welcome back to Moment of Truth, Movieline's spotlight on the best in nonfiction cinema. Today we hear from Da Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus about Kings of Pastry, which opens this week in New York.
The husband-wife filmmaking team of Da Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus have been on hand to witness more than a few historic dramas over the years, perhaps none more famous than that of the charismatic Clinton campaign engineers profiled in their Oscar-nominated 1993 documentary The War Room. Scale that intensity and those stakes down to one guy in a kitchen, however, and you wind up with something like their new film Kings of Pastry, about chef Jacquy Pfeiffer's pursuit of one of France's most hallowed culinary distinctions: that of M.O.F., or Best Craftsman in France.
The husband-wife filmmaking team of Da Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus have been on hand to witness more than a few historic dramas over the years, perhaps none more famous than that of the charismatic Clinton campaign engineers profiled in their Oscar-nominated 1993 documentary The War Room. Scale that intensity and those stakes down to one guy in a kitchen, however, and you wind up with something like their new film Kings of Pastry, about chef Jacquy Pfeiffer's pursuit of one of France's most hallowed culinary distinctions: that of M.O.F., or Best Craftsman in France.
- 9/16/2010
- Movieline
Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker's documentary "Kings of Pastry" starts its U.S. theatrical run this Friday, September 17. The directors provided indieWIRE with an exclusive clip and commentary. Summary Jacquy Pfeiffer, a French chef who lives in Chicago and runs a highly regarded pastry school with his friend, Sebastien Canonne, has decided to pursue his dream--to compete in the world’s most prestigious pastry competition, the century old “Meilleurs Ouvrier de France” ...
- 9/14/2010
- Indiewire
Durham - Once more The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is a four day film festival that plays like it should last a week They show so many films that it’s impossible to even come close to seeing them all. Five theaters are going at once and the only repeats are the award winning movies. It’s hard to pick while going through the schedule. I’ve yet to hear anyone complain about the movie they saw so much as wishing they could have seen two or three of the other ones that were showing concurrently. This is the best festival for documentary film viewers. The 2010 edition kept up the lofty standards with films about basketball, pork, pastries, scoundrels, nomads and undiscovered superstars.
Steve James created the greatest film about the dirty business of Chicago high school basketball in Hoop Dreams. Espn gave him a chance to look into...
Steve James created the greatest film about the dirty business of Chicago high school basketball in Hoop Dreams. Espn gave him a chance to look into...
- 5/14/2010
- by UncaScroogeMcD
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