Joshua Oppenheimer | |
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Oppenheimer in 2015
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Born |
Joshua Lincoln Oppenheimer September 23, 1974 Austin, Texas, United States |
Residence | Copenhagen, Denmark |
Nationality | British & American |
Education | B.A., PhD |
Alma mater |
Harvard University University of the Arts London |
Occupation | Film director |
Years active | 1995–present |
Notable work |
The Act of Killing The Look of Silence |
Awards |
MacArthur Fellowship Marshall Scholarship |
Joshua Lincoln Oppenheimer (born September 23, 1974) is an American film director based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Best known for his Oscar-nominated films The Act of Killing (2012) and The Look of Silence (2014), Oppenheimer is a 2014 recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award and a 1997 Marshall Scholar.
Oppenheimer was born to a Jewish family in Austin, Texas, and grew up in and around Washington, D.C. and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Oppenheimer received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) summa cum laude in film-making from Harvard University and a PhD from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, while studying on a Marshall Scholarship. He is currently a Reader in documentary film at the University of Westminster.
His first film The Entire History of the Louisiana Purchase (1997) won a Gold Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival (1998)
From 2004 to 2012, he produced a series of films in Indonesia. His debut feature film about the individuals who participated in the Indonesian killings of 1965–66, The Act of Killing (2012), premiered at the 2012 Telluride Film Festival. It went on to win many prizes world-wide, including the European Film Award for Best Documentary, a Panorama Audience Award, and a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury from the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. The film also received the Robert Award by the Film Academy of Denmark, a Bodil Award by Denmark's National Association of Film Critics, and the Aung San Suu Kyi Award at the Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival 2013