D. A. Pennebaker

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D. A. Pennebaker
Pennebaker in New York City in February 2007
Born
Donn Alan Pennebaker

(1925-07-15)July 15, 1925
Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
DiedAugust 1, 2019(2019-08-01) (aged 94)
Sag Harbor, New York, U.S.
Alma materYale University
Occupation(s)Documentarian, author
Years active1953–2019
Spouse
​
(m. 1982)​
Websitewww.phfilms.com

Donn Alan Pennebaker (/ˈpɛniːbeɪkər/; July 15, 1925 – August 1, 2019) was an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of direct cinema. Performing arts and politics were his primary subjects. In 2013, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.[1] Pennebaker was called by The Independent as "arguably the pre-eminent chronicler of Sixties counterculture".[2]

He received an

Elaine Stritch: At Liberty (2004), and Kings of Pastry
(2009).

Early life and education

Pennebaker (known as "Penny" to his friends) was born in

Yale and later worked as an engineer, founding Electronics Engineering (the makers of the first computerized airline reservation system) before beginning his film career.[6]

Career

1953–1960

After falling under the influence of experimental filmmaker Francis Thompson, Pennebaker directed his first film, Daybreak Express, in 1953. Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording of the same name, the five-minute short features a shadowy montage of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway in New York City.[7] It was released in 1958. According to Pennebaker, Ellington responded favourably to the film.[8]

In 1959, Pennebaker joined the equipment-sharing Filmakers’ Co-op and co-founded Drew Associates with

Primary (1960), documented John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey's respective campaigns in the 1960 Wisconsin Democratic Primary election. Drew, Leacock and Pennebaker, as well as photographers Albert Maysles, Terrence McCartney Filgate and Bill Knoll, all filmed the campaigning from dawn to midnight over the course of five days. Widely considered to be the first candid and comprehensive look at the day-by-day events of a Presidential race, it was the first film in which the sync sound camera could move freely with characters throughout a breaking story, a major technical achievement that laid the groundwork for modern-day documentary filmmaking. It would later be selected as an historic American film for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 1990.[9]

1963–1968

Drew Associates would produce nine more documentaries for Living Camera, including

Time Out's list of the 50 best documentaries of all time.[16]

Pennebaker would also film Dylan's subsequent tour of England in 1966, but while some of this work has been released in different forms (supplying the framework for Martin Scorsese's Dylan documentary No Direction Home and re-edited by Dylan himself in the rarely distributed Eat the Document), Pennebaker's own film of the tour (Something Is Happening) remains unreleased. Nevertheless, the tour itself has become one of the most celebrated events in rock history, and some of the Nagra recordings made for Pennebaker's film were later released on Dylan's own records. All of the Nagra recordings made during the 1966 European appearances were made by Richard Alderson, who, for years, never received recognition. All of his tapes are what comprise the 36-CD box set Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings, released in 2016. It is Alderson who notes that many of the UK concerts were, in fact, filmed by Howard Alk.

The same year Dont Look Back was released in theaters, Pennebaker worked with author

the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Otis Redding and Janis Joplin that remain seminal documents in rock history. The first of these films, Monterey Pop, was released in 1968 and was later ranked at No. 42 on Time Out's list of the 50 best documentaries of all time.[18] Other performers including Jefferson Airplane and the Who also received major exposure from Pennebaker's work.[6]

1970–1992

Pennebaker continued to film some of the era's most influential rock artists, including John Lennon (whom he first met while filming Dylan in England), Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and David Bowie during his "farewell" concert in 1973.

In 1970, Pennebaker filmed the cast recording session for

The Criterion Channel's streaming service the following year.[19] In August 2021 a physical edition was released, including new commentary by Sondheim and commentary recorded in 2001 by Pennebaker, original director Hal Prince, and Company star Elaine Stritch.[20]

Pennebaker was one of many participants in John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1971 film Up Your Legs Forever.[21]

He also collaborated with

uprisings in France that year. When it became clear that Godard's assessment was incorrect, he abandoned the film. Pennebaker eventually finished the project himself and released it several years later as One PM, meaning "One Perfect Movie" to Pennebaker and "One Pennebaker Movie" to Godard.[8]

Pennebaker's film company was also a notable distributor of foreign films, including Godard's La Chinoise (the American opening of which became the context for One PM), but the endeavor was ultimately a short-lived and costly business venture. Then around 1976, Pennebaker met experimental filmmaker turned documentarian Chris Hegedus. The two soon became collaborators and then married in 1982.

In 1988, Pennebaker, Hegedus and David Dawkins followed Depeche Mode as they toured the U.S. in support of Music for the Masses, the band's commercial breakthrough in America. The resulting film, 101, was released the following year, and prominently features a group of young fans travelling across America as winners of a "be-in-a-Depeche-Mode-movie-contest," which culminates at Depeche Mode's landmark concert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.[22] Because of this, the film is widely considered to be the impetus for the "reality" craze that swept MTV in the following years, including The Real World and Road Rules.[23][24][25][26] In various interviews, DVD commentaries and on their own website, both Pennebaker and Hegedus have cited 101 as "their favorite" and "the one that was the most fun to make" out of all their films to date.[27][28]

The National at BAM during the webcast directed by Pennebaker and Hegedus

In 1992, during the start of the Democratic primaries, Pennebaker and Hegedus approached campaign officials for

Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.[29][30]

Later career

Pennebaker and Hegedus continued to produce a large number of documentary films through their company, Pennebaker Hegedus Films, most notably

Elaine Stritch: At Liberty (2004), Al Franken: God Spoke (2006), and Kings of Pastry
(2009).

In May 2010, they directed their first live show when they directed a YouTube webcast of

cetaceans, elephants, and apes, be classified as legal persons.[32]

Process and style

Pennebaker usually shot his films with a hand-held camera and often eschewed voice-over narration and interviews in favor of a "simple" portrayal of events. In a 1971 interview with G. Roy Levin, Pennebaker said that "it's possible to go to a situation and simply film what you see there, what happens there, what goes on, and let everybody decide whether it tells them about any of these things. But you don't have to label them, you don't have to have the narration to instruct you so you can be sure and understand that it's good for you to learn." In that same interview with Levin, Pennebaker went so far as to claim that Dont Look Back is "not a documentary at all by my standards". He repeatedly asserted that he did not make documentaries, but "records of moments", "half soap operas", and "semimusical reality things".

An accomplished engineer, Pennebaker developed one of the first fully portable, synchronized 16mm camera and sound recording systems which revolutionized modern filmmaking.[33]

Death and legacy

Pennebaker died at his home in Sag Harbor, New York, on August 1, 2019.[34]

His aesthetic and technical breakthroughs have also had a major influence on narrative filmmaking, influencing such realist masterworks as Barbara Loden's Wanda, which was filmed and edited by one of Pennebaker's protégés, Nicholas Proferes,[35] and even acclaimed satires such as Tim Robbins' Bob Roberts.[36]

His style has also been spoofed by

Documentary Now.[38][39][40]

Filmography

Awards and honors

Year Association Category Project Result Ref.
1994 Academy Awards
Best Documentary Feature
 The War Room Nominated
2013 Honorary Academy Award Received
2004 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series Elaine Stritch at Liberty Nominated
2018
News and Documentary Emmy Award
 Outstanding Social Issue Documentary Unlocking the Cage Nominated
1968
Venice Film Festival
 Golden Lion Monterey Pop Nominated
1987 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Jimi Plays Monterey Nominated
2002 Cannes Film Festival C.I.C.A.E Award Only the Strong Survive Nominated

References

  1. ^ Taylor, Drew. "Honorary Oscars Go To Documentarian D.A. Pennebaker & More | IndieWire". IndieWire.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  2. ^ Lim, Dennis (November 23, 1997). "Arts: A marriage made in verite". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  3. ^ "D. A. Pennebaker Biography (1925-)". www.filmreference.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  4. ^ "DA Pennebaker obituary". the Guardian. August 4, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
  5. ^ "Filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker's Rock 'n' Roll Life". Wall Street Journal. July 11, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Fandango biography". Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  7. ^ D.A. Pennebaker dead: Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker dead at 94 - CBS News
  8. ^ a b Phillips, Richard (August 12, 1998). "Pennebaker and Hegedus: seminal figures in American documentary film". World Socialist Web Site. International Committee of the Fourth International. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  9. ^ "Home". Drew Associates. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Pennebaker, D.A. (1964). "The Audition". Pennebaker Hegedus Films. Archived from the original (video) on July 21, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
  11. ^
    JazzWax
    . Retrieved June 4, 2011.
  12. ^ "BBC Storyville: Interview with D.A. Pennebaker (2005)". Archived from the original on August 23, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  13. ^ "Don't Look Back (1996)". July 13, 1996. Retrieved June 20, 2020 – via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  14. ^ "Rock On The Net: Rolling Stone: "The 100 Top Music Videos" (1993)". Rockonthenet.com.
  15. ^ Films, Pennebaker Hegedus (April 12, 2013). "DONT LOOK BACK (1967) - Trailer". Retrieved June 20, 2020 – via Vimeo.
  16. ^ Time Out's 50 best documentaries of all time (2010)
  17. ^ Town Bloody Hall (1979)|The Criterion Collection
  18. ^ Time Out's 50 best documentaries of all time (2010)
  19. ^ Romano, Aja (June 12, 2020). "Recording the Company cast album was infamously hellish. This cult favorite doc captured it all". Vox. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  20. ^ Rosky, Nicole. "Criterion Will Release Special Edition of ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY Documentary in August". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  21. ISBN 978-1-78323-048-8
    .
  22. Rolling Stone
    , no. 582/583, pp. 60–65
  23. ^ Doole, Kerry (July 1989), "The Class of 101", Music Express Magazine, vol. 13, no. 138, pp. 40–44
  24. ^ "DA Pennebaker: No Spinal Tap jokes, please..." The Independent. November 9, 2003. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  25. ^ "The Story Of 101". YouTube. 1989. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  26. ^ Krajewski, Jill (September 30, 2017). "This 80s Depeche Mode Doc Starring Teen Fans Was the First True Reality Show". Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  27. ^ "Depeche Mode 101 | Pennebaker Hegedus Films". phfilms.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  28. ^ "depeche mode dot com - 101 on DVD". 101dvd.depechemode.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  29. ^ "Documentary Short Subject and Feature Winners in 1994-Oscars on YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  30. ^ "The 66th Academy Awards | 1994". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  31. ^ Breihan, Tom (May 4, 2010). "D.A. Pennebaker to Direct the National". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  32. ^ "And the Oscar goes to…D.A. Pennebaker! : The Nonhuman Rights Project". Archived from the original on August 20, 2014. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  33. ^ "John Grierson International Gold Medal Award biography". Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  34. ^ Williams, John (August 3, 2019). "D.A. Pennebaker, Pioneer of Cinéma Vérité in America, Dies at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  35. ^ "L.A. Weekly article on Barbara Loden's Wanda". Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  36. ^ "Bob Roberts". DVD Talk. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  37. ^ ""Weird Al" Yankovic - Bob on YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  38. ^ "Documentary Now! | The Bunker vs The War Room | IFC on YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  39. ^ McHenry, Jackson (February 27, 2019). "How Documentary Now Made the Sondheim-Alike Musical Co-op". Vulture. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  40. ^ "Documentary Now" COMPANY Conversation - Criterion Channel Clip on Vimeo
  41. ^ "Daybreak Express (Remastered) - Duke Ellington -Topic on YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  42. ^ Jimi Plays Monterey & Shake! Otis at Monterey (1986)|The Criterion Collection

Further reading

  • Aitken, Ian ed. Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film. Routledge (2005).
  • Dave Saunders. Direct Cinema: Observational Documentary and the Politics of the Sixties. London: Wallflower Press, 2007.
  • Pennebaker, D.A. "Interview with Donn Alan Pennebaker by G. Roy Levin". In Documentary Explorations: 15 Interviews with Film-makers, 221–70. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971.
  • Jeanne Hall. "Don't You Ever Just Watch?: American Cinema Verite and Don't Look Back". In Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video, 223–37. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1998.

External links

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