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Lucy Walker (director)

{{short description|English film director}}

{{Other people|Lucy Walker|Lucy Walker (disambiguation)}}

{{Use British English|date=January 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Lucy Walker

| image = Documentary Director Lucy Walker - Feb 2012 (cropped-J1).jpeg

| caption = Lucy Walker in February 2012

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| birth_name =

| occupation = Film director, writer, producer

| notable_works =

| education =

| alma_mater = Oxford University
New York University Tisch School of the Arts

| relations =

| website = {{URL|lucywalkerfilm.com|lucywalkerfilm.com}}

| years_active = 1998–present

}}

Lucy Walker is an English film director. She has directed the feature documentaries Devil's Playground (2002), Blindsight (2006), Waste Land (2010), Countdown to Zero (2010), The Crash Reel (2013), Buena Vista Social Club: Adios (2017), Bring Your Own Brigade (2021), and Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (2023). She has also directed the short films The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (2011) and The Lion's Mouth Opens (2014). Waste Land was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject).

Film career

Devil's Playground, Walker's first feature documentary, examined the struggles of Amish teenagers during their period of experimentation (rumspringa). It premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival.

Blindsight premiered at Toronto. It follows the journey of six blind Tibetan teenagers who climb up the north side of Mount Everest with blind American mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer and their teacher, Sabriye Tenberken, who founded the only school for the blind in Tibet, Braille Without Borders. Blindsight won the Audience Award at Berlin Film Festival, as did Walker's subsequent film Waste Land.

Waste Land focuses on Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and a group of catadores—pickers of recyclable materials—who transform recyclable materials from the world's largest dump in Rio de Janeiro into contemporary art sold at the most prestigious auction house in London. Waste Land premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival where it won the World Cinema Audience Award in documentary. Waste Land was released theatrically in the US by Arthouse Films, in Canada, in the UK by E1 Entertainment, and in Australia/NZ by Hopscotch Films. In addition to being nominated for an Academy Award, Waste Land won the top prize at the 2010 IDA Documentary Awards. {{cite web| url=https://variety.com/2010/film/awards/ida-honors-waste-land-1118028446/| title=IDA honors 'Waste Land'| date=2010-12-10| access-date=3 August 2024| archive-date=27 January 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127130822/https://variety.com/2010/film/awards/ida-honors-waste-land-1118028446/| url-status=live}}

Countdown to Zero, an exposé of the present-day threat of nuclear proliferation, also premiered at Sundance 2010. It also played in the Official Selection at Cannes Film Festival, before being released in the US by Magnolia Pictures, in the UK by Dogwoof, and in Japan by Paramount.

Walker's 2011 Oscar-nominated documentary The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom focuses on the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and its survivors' struggle to survive. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2011, and it went on to screen at festivals, including Sundance in 2012 where it won the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking, Non-Fiction.{{cite web| url=https://www.sundance.org/blogs/artist-spotlight/5-things-you-should-know-about-the-tsunami-and-the-cherry-blossom/| title=5 Things You Should Know About The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom| date=2014-03-11| access-date=3 August 2024| archive-date=25 February 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225015932/https://www.sundance.org/blogs/artist-spotlight/5-things-you-should-know-about-the-tsunami-and-the-cherry-blossom/| url-status=live}}

Walker was inspired to make the 2013 documentary The Crash Reel when she met Kevin Pearce (snowboarder) at a retreat organized by David Mayer de Rothschild. The Crash Reel premiered at Sundance on 19 January 2013 as the Opening Night Gala film. The film chronicles the rivalry between Kevin and Shaun White, which culminates in Kevin's life-changing crash. Outside featured Lucy in a cover story, "Lucy Walker Will Change Winter Sports".{{cite web| url=http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/media/film/Crash-and-Burn-Lucy-Walker-The-Crash-Reel.html| title=Lucy Walker Will Change Winter Sports| date=2013-11-07| access-date=11 July 2014| archive-date=10 July 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710074906/http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/media/film/Crash-and-Burn-Lucy-Walker-The-Crash-Reel.html| url-status=live}} The Crash Reel won an audience award at South by Southwest and an Emmy Award.{{cite web|url=https://www.sxsw.com/festivals/film/awards-archive/|title=SXSW Film & TV Awards Archive|website=sxsw.com|accessdate=3 August 2024|archive-date=23 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723215144/https://www.sxsw.com/festivals/film/awards-archive/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2014/09/news-and-documentary-emmys-winners-pbs-cbs-843951/|title=PBS And CBS Dominate News & Documentary Emmys|website=Deadline Hollywood|date=30 September 2014|accessdate=3 August 2024|archive-date=17 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417184634/https://deadline.com/2014/09/news-and-documentary-emmys-winners-pbs-cbs-843951/|url-status=live}}

Walker's 2014 documentary The Lion's Mouth Opens focuses on filmmaker-actor Marianna Palka's attempt to discover if she has inherited Huntington's disease, the incurable degenerative disorder that took Palka's father. Nick Higgins worked with Walker as cinematographer for the documentary. Walker premiered The Lion's Mouth Opens at Sundance on 26 January 2014 and it went on to win Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking at the Cinema Eye Honors.

Bring Your Own Brigade which follows the aftermath of the Camp Fire (2018) had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 29 January 2021.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/sundance-film-festival-announces-2021-lineup-1234854059/|title=Sundance Film Festival Lineup Features 38 First-Time Directors, Including Rebecca Hall and Robin Wright|website=Variety|first=Peter|last=Debruge|date=15 December 2020|accessdate=16 April 2021|archive-date=1 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701194411/https://variety.com/2020/film/news/sundance-film-festival-announces-2021-lineup-1234854059/|url-status=live}}

Walker served as a producer on Why Did You Kill Me? directed by Fredrick Munk, which was released on 14 April 2021 by Netflix.{{cite web|url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/04/10408165/netflix-why-did-you-kill-me-documentary-true-crime|title=A Mother Uses Myspace To Track Down Her Daughter's Killer in New Netflix Doc|website=Refinery29|first=Ineye|last=Komonibo|date=7 April 2021|accessdate=16 April 2021|archive-date=11 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311053521/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/04/10408165/netflix-why-did-you-kill-me-documentary-true-crime|url-status=live}}

How to Change Your Mind, a four episode docuseries directed with Alison Ellwood, premiered on Netflix in 2022. Based on the book of the same name by Michael Pollan, each episode explores a different psychoactive substance.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2022/06/how-to-change-your-mind-docuseries-lined-up-at-netflix-from-alex-gibney-michael-pollan-1235046364/ |title=Mind-Altering Drug Docuseries Lined Up At Netflix From Alex Gibney & Michael Pollan |last=White |first=Peter |date=June 16, 2022 |work=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=July 13, 2022 }}

Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, about the pioneering Nepali mountaineer Lhakpa Sherpa, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where it was acquired for distribution by Netflix.{{cite web|url=https://tiff.net/events/mountain-queen-the-summits-of-lhakpa-sherpa|title=Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa|website=Toronto International Film Festival|access-date=September 12, 2023|archive-date=September 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230913084616/https://tiff.net/events/mountain-queen-the-summits-of-lhakpa-sherpa|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/07/tiff-announces-2023-documentary-lineup-toronto-international-film-festival-news-1235448395/|title=TIFF Announces Documentary Lineup, With Film On Louis C.K. Scandal, Plus Latest From Raoul Peck, Errol Morris, Lucy Walker, Roger Ross Williams|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Anthony|last=D'Alessandro|date=July 26, 2023|access-date=September 12, 2023|archive-date=August 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825212226/https://deadline.com/2023/07/tiff-announces-2023-documentary-lineup-toronto-international-film-festival-news-1235448395/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/09/mountain-queen-the-summits-of-lhakpa-sherpa-netflix-tiff-documentary-1235543862/|title=Netflix Lands 'Mountain Queen: The Summits Of Lhakpa Sherpa,' Documentary On First Nepali Woman To Conquer Mount Everest – TIFF|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Matt|last=Grobar|date=September 12, 2023|access-date=September 12, 2023|archive-date=September 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230912135442/https://deadline.com/2023/09/mountain-queen-the-summits-of-lhakpa-sherpa-netflix-tiff-documentary-1235543862/|url-status=live}} It debuted on Netflix on July 31, 2024.{{cite web|url=https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/new-summer-movies-on-netflix|title=All the New Netflix Movies You Can Watch This Summer|website=Netflix|date=May 1, 2024|access-date=May 1, 2024|archive-date=June 22, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622162914/https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/new-summer-movies-on-netflix|url-status=live}}

Walker's credits in television include directing over a dozen episodes of Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues, her first job out of film school, for which she was twice nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing. Her content and commercial work includes directing "Project Daniel" for Intel, which was awarded an AICP Curator's Award and three Bronze Lions at the Cannes Festival of Creativity{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol19tt3VWhQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/ol19tt3VWhQ |archive-date=2021-12-19 |url-status=live| title=Look Inside.™: Mick Ebeling | Intel|website=YouTube |date=10 March 2014 }}{{cbignore}}

Walker was named one of the "Top 25 New Faces in Independent Film" by Filmmaker and called "the new Errol Morris" by The Hollywood Reporter. Variety has profiled her as a notable "Femme Filmmaker", praising her ability to connect with audiences.{{cite news |last=Salemi |first=Michelle |url=https://variety.com/2010/scene/markets-festivals/lucy-walker-instructively-engaging-1118024845/ |title=Lucy Walker: Instructively engaging |work=Variety |date=2010-09-30 |access-date=2013-06-10 |archive-date=3 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103093804/http://variety.com/2010/scene/markets-festivals/lucy-walker-instructively-engaging-1118024845/ |url-status=live }}

Filmography

Select accolades

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style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Year

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Film

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Award

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Ceremony

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Result

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Abbr|Ref.|References}}

2010

| Waste Land

| Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature (with Angus Aynsley)

| 83rd Academy Awards

| {{nom}}

| style="text-align:center;" | {{cite web | url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ | title=The Official Academy Awards Database | work=awardsdatabase.oscars.org | publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | access-date=30 January 2020}}

2011

| The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

| Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) (with Kira Carstensen)

| 84th Academy Awards

| {{nom}}

| style="text-align:center;" |

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{IMDb name|1013671|Lucy Walker}}
  • [http://www.lucywalkerfilm.com/ Personal website]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Lucy}}

Category:British documentary film directors

Category:British women documentary filmmakers

Category:English women film directors

Category:Film directors from London

Category:Living people

Category:Tisch School of the Arts alumni

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)