Pietra Brettkelly

Pietra Brettkelly (born 1965) is a New Zealand filmmaker, known for her documentaries. She is a documentary filmmaker submitted three times for Oscar consideration, a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, and was recently named an Arts Laureate of New Zealand. Her films have premiered in five of the world's top six film festivals – Sundance, Toronto, Venice, Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals – and have garnered many awards. She is known for her independent, risk-taking style, which has taken her to many different countries. She approaches her subjects' lives with a "quiet" demeanor and "non-judgmental" attitude, allowing her to capture and document real stories. She has mentioned that there was not a film school in New Zealand.

Brettkelly wrote about herself, "My parents took me from Papua New Guinea to Portugal, encouraging a wonder and appreciation for the diversity of peoples and their stories". Additionally, she travelled the world as a journalist before directing her first documentary "Beauty Will Save the World" (2003) about the first ever beauty pageant in Libya. When she was first starting out, traveling and experiencing new cultures seemed to be her greatest teacher when it came to making a documentary.

Documentary career

Brettkelly's 2018 film, Yellow Is Forbidden, premiered In Competition and Opening Weekend at Tribeca Film Festival. The film was selected for both the Best Foreign Language and Best Documentary sections of the Oscars. Vogue Magazine noted it as a, "film that is … a celebration of how extraordinary women are", while the Sydney Morning Herald called it, " deliciously intimate film ... a near visceral experience ". The film follows the rise of talented Chinese haute couturier Guo Pei. In an article, Rebekah Brammer describes the documentary as depicting the meticulous images of magnificent gowns, intimate footage, insightful interviews, culture clash, craft and aspiration, and the grueling labor behind high fashion. while Indiewire writer Eric Kohn called the movie an "eye-opening documentary ... a moving navigation of Afghanistan’s past and present". A Flickering Truth was selected as the New Zealand entrant for the 2016 Best Foreign Language at the Oscars. Brettkelly said about the film, "When I first went to Afghanistan, I found the people so different from what I have been fed through media and reportage," and thus, her mission became to tell a story that completely altered awareness of Afghans.

In 2012, Brettkelly's Māori Boy Genius premiered In Competition at Berlin Film Festival. It follows a boy named Ngaa Rauuira Pumanawawhit, after he's accepted into Yale summer school.

Brettkelly met Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft when filming in Sudan after the end of one of the longest running civil war in African history. Beecroft is famous for her provocative performance art, and while in Sudan for a project had decided to try and adopt motherless twins. Brettkelly eventually followed Beecroft's adoption efforts over 16 months, which formed the basis for The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins. Still in Motion (magazine)'s editor posited, "I felt I was in the hands of a master storyteller." The film won Best Editing in the World Documentary section of the Sundance Film Festival.

Her Beauty Will Save The World (2003)'s World Premier American Film Institute Film Festival in Los Angeles. Brettkelly's website describes the film, "Beauty Will Save The World follows the exploits of 19 year-old Teca Zendik, the American contender for the crown. She sets out with her political loyalties in check, even refusing to wear the competition uniform – a teeshirt emblazoned with Gaddafi's likeness. How then does she assume the position of honorary consul to the US for Libya in a mere matter of months? Marvel at how diplomatic ties are re-established between two nations, enjoy the behind-the-scenes antics of a beauty pageant, and seize the chance to see rare footage of Gaddafi himself in this accidental political documentary."

Style and themes

Brettkelly said in an interview, "There are two common themes in all my films. One is identity and the other is isolation. Isolation, because I live in New Zealand. Identity, because I’m a first-generation New Zealander… [My parents] brought me up to be curious and to think about what I could bring to this new place." There are many close-up shots in the film. Some are of hands, like of Guo Pei designing a garment or her sewers creating the dress, while others are of the garments themselves, with their threads, beads, and jewels sparkling in the shot. This relates to how Brettkelly views her work, saying, "I believe my films have a considered quietness, a non-judgmental approach that allows subjects to tell their stories. I treasure the honesty and the privilege people grant me in capturing and documenting an often pivotal time in their lives." 2018 Yellow is Forbidden Director Haute couture fashion in China, following designer Guo Pei. premiered In Competition and Opening Weekend Tribeca Film Festival. Selected for Best Foreign Language and Best Documentary 2019 Academy Awards. 2015 A Flickering Truth Director, Producer, Screenplay Attempts by Ibrahim Arify to restore the Afghan Film archives in Kabul, following the Taliban capture of the city. premiered at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and also screened as the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Selected for Best Foreign Language 2016 Academy Awards. 2011 Māori Boy Genius Director, Producer, Screenplay Ngaa Rauuira Pumanawawhiti, a 16-year-old prodigy, travels from rural New Zealand to the United States after being accepted to Summer School at Yale University. The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, and won a Moa award in 2012 for Best Documentary. 2008 The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins Director, Producer, Screenplay Artist Vanessa Beecroft's attempt to adopt children in Sudan. premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In 2009 Brettkelly was invited to screen the film at the New York's Museum of Modern Art as part of their documentary fortnight. The film presents Beecroft as a "hypocritically self-aware, colossally colonial pomo narcissist" and chronicles her "damaging quotes and appalling behavior" as she attempts to adopt two Sudanese orphans for use in an art exhibit. The Winnipeg Free Press noted that "any tendency for the observer to mock [Beecroft's] self-indulgence is mitigated by director Pietra Brettkelly's scrupulous acknowledgement of Beecroft's self-awareness". 2003 Beauty Will Save the World Producer Libya's first beauty pageant, following 19-year-old Teca Zendik, the American contender. In 2003 Brettkelly travelled to Libya for that country's first ever beauty pageant. Beauty Will Save the World featured an interview with Muammar Gaddafi. Beauty Will Save The World premiered at the AFI Film Festival in October 2003, and was shown at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam in 2004.

Awards and honors