Robert Gardner

Known for: Directing
Born: November 5, 1925, Brookline, Massachusetts, USA
Died: June 21, 2014
Movies: 50

Robert Gardner was the Director of the Film Study Center at Harvard University from 1957 to 1997. He is known for his work in the field of non-fiction film.

He is an internationally renowned filmmaker and author whose works have entered the permanent canon of non-fiction filmmaking. Some of his most prominent films include Dead Birds (1964), a lyric account of the Dugum Dani, a Stone Age society at one time living an isolated existence in the Highlands of the former Netherlands New Guinea (Gardner was the leader of the Peabody Museum-sponsored expedition to study the Dani in 1961-62); Rivers of Sand (1974), a social commentary on the Hamar people of southwestern Ethiopia; and Forest of Bliss (1985), a cinematic essay on the ancient city of Benares, India, which explores the ceremonies, rituals, and industries associated with death and regeneration.

Gardner’s films have received numerous awards, including the Robert J. Flaherty Award for best nonfiction film (twice); the Golden Lion for Best Film at the Florence Film Festival (three times); and First Prizes at the Trento, USA Dallas, Melbourne, Nuoro, EarthWatch, Athens, and San Francisco film festivals. His films have been invited to Festivals throughout the world including Jerusalem, Bergen, London, Munich, Toronto, Montreal, Margaret Mead, Marseilles, Locarno, Chicago and Cinema du Réel.

Best-Known Movies

6.8

Forest of Bliss

1986

7.0

Time Indefinite

1993

6.0

Dead Birds

1963

5.9

Reality's Invisible

1972

6.5

The Hunters

1957

7.0

Birth of a Nation

1997

7.0

Rivers of Sand

1974

5.5

The Nuer

1970

2.0

Q'eros: The Shape of Survival

1979

10.0

Loving Krishna

1985

Filmography

2003	Oh, What a Blow That Phantom Gave Me!	Self
2000	Looking at Forest of Bliss	Himself
1997	Birth of a Nation	Self
1993	Time Indefinite	Himself
1985	Loving Krishna	Narrator
1985	Serpent Mother	Narrator
1979	Q'eros: The Shape of Survival	Narrator
1972	Reality's Invisible	Self
1963	Dead Birds	Narrator
1960	Flaherty and Film	Self - Host
1951	Fort Rupert	Narrator

Directing, Writing & Producing

2010	Still Journey On	Director
2010	Deus Ex Boltanski	Director
2000	Looking at Forest of Bliss	Director
2000	Good to Pull (Bon a Tirer)	Director
1998	Sean Scully: Passenger	Director
1997	It Could Be Good, It Could Be Bad	Director
1997	Scully in Malaga	Director
1997	Sean Scully: Testigos AKA The Witnesses	Director
1993	Dancing with Miklos	Director
1988	Hauling Sharks	Director
1988	Ika Hands	Director, Writer
1986	Forest of Bliss	Director, Producer
1985	Life Keeps on Passing	Director
1985	Supplicating Women	Director
1985	Sons of Shiva	Director
1980	Deep Hearts	Director
1978	Healing	Director
1976	Altar of Fire	Director
1974	Rivers of Sand	Director, Writer
1973	Policeman	Director
1973	Anthem	Director
1973	Farmer	Director
1973	Lobsterman	Director
1973	Mark Tobey Abroad	Director, Producer
1972	Land-Divers of Melanesia	Director
1970	The Nuer	Producer
1968	Creatures of Pain	Director
1968	Salt	Director
1966	The Great Sail	Director
1966	Tide	Director
1966	The Photographer	Director
1965	People and Particles	Producer
1965	Marathon	Director
1963	Dead Birds	Director, Writer
1958	The Old Lady AKA A Human Document	Director
1957	The Hunters	Director
1952	Mark Tobey	Director
1951	Blunden Harbour	Director
1951	Dances of the Kwakiutl	Producer

Data from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.