Eva Orner
{{Short description|Australian film producer and director}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Eva Orner
| nationality = Australian
| occupation = Producer, director
}}
Eva Orner is an Australian Academy and Emmy Award-winning film producer and director based in Los Angeles. Her works include Untold Desires (winner of Best Documentary at the Australian Film Institute Awards, the Logie Awards and the Australian Human Rights Awards), Strange Fits of Passion (nominated for the Critics' Award at the Cannes Film Festival), Taxi to the Dark Side (winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary),{{Cite web |url=http://www.afc.gov.au/filmsandawards/recentfilms/cannes04/feature_109.aspx |title=Screen Australia – Former AFC -AustralianFilmsAndAwards – Features 2004 |access-date=26 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208063704/http://www.afc.gov.au/filmsandawards/recentfilms/cannes04/feature_109.aspx |archive-date=8 December 2007 |url-status=dead}} and Gonzo, The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Orner's directorial debut, The Network, a feature documentary set behind the scenes of Afghanistan's largest television station, premiered in the US in March 2013.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}
Early life
Orner grew up in Melbourne, Victoria, and was educated at Mount Scopus Memorial College and Monash University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993.{{Cite web|url=http://www.monash.edu.au/news/feb08-orner.html|title=Former Monash Student Wins Academy Award, Monash University|accessdate=8 April 2022}}
Career
Orner, along with actress Cate Blanchett, was one of only two Australians nominated for an Oscar in 2008. Most commentators predicted that Michael Moore's Sicko would win the Best Documentary category. However, to the surprise of many, Orner's Taxi to the Dark Side, which examines US torture practices in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantánamo Bay, received the award.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/australian-wins-documentary-oscar-20080226-ge6rs2.html|title=Australian wins documentary Oscar|date=25 February 2008|website=The Age|access-date=29 August 2024|archive-date=13 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813025625/https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/australian-wins-documentary-oscar-20080226-ge6rs2.html|url-status=live}} Within hours, Orner created controversy by describing the US Government as "a bunch of war criminals".{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/?nk=6cd06b995c0694959e19309a8ab56950-1629237280|title=Eva Orner comments on US government|website=heraldsun.com.au|accessdate=8 April 2022|archive-date=17 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817233141/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/?nk=6cd06b995c0694959e19309a8ab56950-1629237280|url-status=live}}
Orner directed and produced the AACTA award winning feature documentary Chasing Asylum. Released in 2016, the film takes a critical look at Australia's treatment of refugees and asylum seekers.{{Citation | last= Delaney | first= Brigid | title= Eva Orner on Chasing Asylum: 'Every whistleblower that I interviewed wept' – New film features shocking footage from within offshore detention centres. 'I wanted to make a film that would shame Australia', the film-maker says | url= https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/apr/30/eva-orner-on-chasing-asylum-every-whistleblower-that-i-interviewed-wept | periodical= The Guardian | date= 30 April 2016 | access-date= 23 September 2024 | archive-date= 23 September 2024 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240923141121/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/apr/30/eva-orner-on-chasing-asylum-every-whistleblower-that-i-interviewed-wept | url-status= live }} She also directed and produced Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, for Netflix. The film was released in 2019 and had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.{{Cite web |last=Grater |first=Tom |date=2020-01-16 |title='Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator' Director Eva Orner Signs With WME |url=https://deadline.com/2020/01/bikram-yogi-guru-predator-director-eva-orner-signs-wme-1202832700/ |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=Deadline |language=en-US |archive-date=23 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240923141122/https://deadline.com/2020/01/bikram-yogi-guru-predator-director-eva-orner-signs-wme-1202832700/ |url-status=live }}
In 2021, her film Burning was released. It is about climate change and the Black Summer Australian fires of 2019–2020. Burning had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.{{Cite web |last=Unreich |first=Rachelle |date=2021-11-05 |title='I can't watch this again': Eva Orner on Burning, her call to climate action |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/i-can-t-watch-this-again-eva-orner-on-burning-her-call-to-climate-action-20211028-p5942z.html |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en |archive-date=23 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240923141123/https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/i-can-t-watch-this-again-eva-orner-on-burning-her-call-to-climate-action-20211028-p5942z.html |url-status=live }}
In June 2022, HBO announced that Orner would be directing a documentary about the Ohio State University abuse scandal.{{Cite web |date=7 June 2022 |first=Rick |last=Porter |title=George Clooney's Ohio State Abuse Documentary Lands at HBO |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/hbo-george-clooney-ohio-state-abuse-documentary-1235160576/ |website=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=23 September 2024 |archive-date=23 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240923141124/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/hbo-george-clooney-ohio-state-abuse-documentary-1235160576/ |url-status=live }} A staffer at Smokehouse Pictures said in October 2023 that they were "still thick in production" on the documentary.{{Cite news |last=Hurley |first=Bevan |date=2023-10-24 |title=New doc on the wrestling abuse that dogged Jim Jordan's Speaker run |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ohio-state-documentary-clooney-jim-jordan-b2435040.html |access-date=2024-06-25 |work=The Independent |language=en |archive-date=23 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240923141519/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ohio-state-documentary-clooney-jim-jordan-b2435040.html |url-status=live }}
In April 2024, HBO released Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion, a documentary film directed by Orner.{{Cite web |last=Moorman |first=Taijuan |date=April 11, 2024 |title='Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion' doc examines controversial retailer Brandy Melville |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2024/04/11/brandy-melville-hbo-documentary-fast-fashion/73288985007/ |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505172515/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2024/04/11/brandy-melville-hbo-documentary-fast-fashion/73288985007/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Issawi |first=Danya |date=2024-04-11 |title=The Most Messed-up Findings in the Brandy Melville Documentary |url=https://www.thecut.com/article/the-messed-up-findings-in-the-brandy-melville-documentary.html |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=The Cut |language=en |archive-date=19 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240619133744/https://www.thecut.com/article/the-messed-up-findings-in-the-brandy-melville-documentary.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Holtermann |first=Callie |date=2024-04-10 |title='Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion': 5 Takeaways |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/09/style/brandy-melville-hbo-documentary.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240410031822/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/09/style/brandy-melville-hbo-documentary.html |archive-date=April 10, 2024 |access-date=2024-04-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Personal life
References
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External links
- {{IMDb name|id=nm0650321}}
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Category:Australian documentary film producers
Category:Monash University alumni
Category:Date of birth missing (living people)
Category:Australian women film producers
Category:Australian women documentary filmmakers
Category:Australian documentary film directors
Category:Australian women film directors
Category:Producers of Best Documentary Feature Academy Award winners
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:People educated at Mount Scopus Memorial College
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