Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker

Louis Alvarez (born January 23, 1955) and Andrew Kolker (born February 20, 1952) are American documentary filmmakers whose works deal with various aspects of American society and culture. Their films have been shown frequently on the American Public Broadcasting Service and are notable for their use of humor in the examination of serious subjects such as social class and politics.Current Magazine, Oct 20, 2001, {{cite web |url=http://www.current.org/prog/prog0115class.html |title=Current.org | People Like Us |accessdate=2009-11-29 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306082949/http://www.current.org/prog/prog0115class.html |archivedate=2009-03-06 }}The New York Times, August 26, 2007, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/arts/television/26strau.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=kolker%20alvarez&st=cse Love Us or Hate Us, Ya Can’t Ignore Us] Alvarez and Kolker's work has been recognized by two Peabody Awards and two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards.

Early life

Alvarez and Kolker first met in New Orleans in the mid-1970s as activist videomakers working in the city's poor neighborhoods, and their earlier work portrays life in New Orleans and surrounding parishes.{{cite news|last1=Dudek|first1=Duane|title=Ex-Milwaukeean finds fertile ground for TV documentary in post-post-Katrina New Orleans|url=http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/tvradio/ex-milwaukeean-finds-fertile-ground-for-tv-documentary-in-post-post-katrina-new-orleans-b99309150z1-266948471.html|accessdate=21 October 2014|publisher=Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel}}

Works

Their best-known works are People Like Us: Social Class in America, which is a wide-ranging examination of the American class system from 2001,Baltimore Sun, Sept 23, 2001, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121024012100/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/baltsun/access/81921023.html?dids=81921023:81921023&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+23,+2001&author=David+Zurawik&pub=The+Sun&desc=Our+kind+of+people+--+or+maybe+not+%3B+Documentary+began+with+the+basics Our Kind of People (Or Maybe Not)] and American Tongues, a 1987 study of dialects of North American English and their social implications. They have also collaborated with the filmmaker Paul Stekler on several films about American politics and culture, including Louisiana Boys - Raised on Politics and Vote for Me: Politics in America.

File:Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker.png attire on the set of their documentary film Getting Back to Abnormal.]]

Between 1994 and 2014 Alvarez and Kolker collaborated with the film editor and producer Peter Odabashian on their films.

Filmography

Changing the Channel, 1977
Talking Crime, 1978
The Clarks, 1979
The Ends of the Earth: Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, 1982
El mosco y el agua alta, or Mosquitoes and High Water, 1983
Yeah You Rite!, 1985
American Tongues, 1987
L.A. is It with John Gregory Dunne, 1990
The Japanese Version, 1991
Louisiana Boys—Raised on Politics, 1993
Vote for Me: Politics in America, 1996
MOMS, 1999
People Like Us: Social Class in America, 2001
Sex: Female, 2003
Small Ball—A Little League Story, 2004
The Anti-Americans (a hate/love relationship), 2007
Past/Present [video game], 2012
Getting Back to Abnormal, 2013
Buckwheat's World, 2015
Postcards from the Great Divide, 2016

References

External links

{{IMDb name|0023289|Louis Alvarez}}
{{IMDb name|0464136|Andrew Kolker}}
[http://www.cnam.com The Center for New American Media]
[http://www.cnam.com/people-like-us People Like Us website]

Category:1952 births

Category:1955 births

Category:American documentary filmmakers

Category:Living people