Ellen Spiro

Who is Ellen Spiro?

Ellen Spiro is an American documentary filmmakerwho is both a Guggenheim and Rockefeller Fellow. Spiro is known for making humorous social issue films for national and international television broadcasts and theatrical release.

In 2010 Spiro directed a nationally broadcast NOW on PBS special Fixing the Future with on-camera host David Brancaccio who visits communities across America using innovative approaches to building prosperity in our new economy.

In 2007 she released Body of War. Body of War won Best Documentary of 2007 from the National Board of Review and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival where it won an audience award. Spiro and Donahue were featured on a one-hour Bill Moyers Journal special discussing the film. Additionally, Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue received a 2007 nomination for Best Documentary from the Producers Guild of America and were short-listed for an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary.

Spiro's other award-winning films have been shown broadcast on television worldwide on PBS, HBO, BBC, CBC and NHK and in the art world, including multiple screenings at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum Biennial exhibition.