Deborah Oppenheimer

Deborah Oppenheimer is an American film and television producer. She won an Academy Award in 2001 for best documentary feature for producing Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport. The film was narrated by Judi Dench and made with the official cooperation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Oppenheimer co-authored the companion book to the film with Mark Jonathan Harris and also produced the film's soundtrack.

In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

In 2001, Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport won the Evening Standard Award for Best Documentary.

Her HBO feature-length documentary, FOSTER (2019), which examined the foster care system in Los Angeles, received the National Council for Adoption's "Excellence in Foster Care Media Award" in November 2019.

The film was nominated for Best Documentary Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.

Biography Deborah Oppenheimer was raised in Valley Stream, New York. After graduating from Valley Stream South High School,

She started as an editor for John Wiley & Sons before moving into television at Lorimar Productions in 1981.

As Executive Vice President of Carnival Films, Oppenheimer developed and executive produced the television series from Christopher Guest, Family Tree for HBO and BBC1. She later conceived and led U.S. strategies as a production consultant to the Carnival Films television series, Downton Abbey.

In December 2012, she was selected to be a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council by US President Barack Obama.

Awards and recognition Year Award Category Nominated work Result Notes2000 Heartland Film Festival Crystal Heart Award Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport Shared with Mark Jonathan Harris International Documentary Association Video Source Award Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport Shared with Mark Jonathan Harris 2001 Academy Award Best Documentary, Feature Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport Shared with Mark Jonathan Harris Evening Standard British Film Awards Best Documentary, Feature Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport Shared with Mark Jonathan Harris Long Island International Film Expo Filmmaker Achievement Award Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport