Chris HegedusChris Hegedus was awarded the prestigious 2002 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentaries for STARTUP.COM (produced by Pennebaker and co-directed with Jehane Noujaim). An inside look at the recent dot com mania, STARTUP.COM follows the adventures of two high school buddies as they create an Internet company. The film was released theatrically by Artisan and was also awarded the International Documentary Association Award for Distinguished Feature Film. Hegedus began co-directing with D A Pennebaker in the mid-seventies. She has since partnered with him on a host of acclaimed films, including 1998’s MOON OVER BROADWAY and 1994’s THE WAR ROOM. The latter film, a behind-the scenes look at Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary and won the National Board of Review’s D.W. Griffith Award. 2003’s ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was distributed theatrically by Miramax, is about some of the legends that made Rhythm and Blues music famous, including Isaac Hayes, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett and Sam Moore, among others. Their film ELAINE STRITCH AT LIBERTY, which premiered on HBO in May 2004 and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Direction for a Music, Variety, or Comedy Program. Most recently Hegedus and co-director Nick Doob released theatrically AL FRANKEN: GOD SPOKE. The film follows the transformation of political satarist Al Franken. |