Joshua Oppenheimer is an American documentary filmmaker, best known for directing The Act of Killing and its companion piece, The Look of Silence. He graduated from Harvard University in 1997 with a degree in History and Literature and later received an MFA in film directing from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2002.
Oppenheimer's first documentary, The Entire History Of The Louisiana Purchase, was released in 2004. It won numerous awards and was broadcast on PBS and the Sundance Channel.
In 2005, Oppenheimer co-directed The Globalization Tapes, a feature-length documentary about the impact of globalization on the lives of workers in the developing world. The film won numerous awards and was featured at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
In 2012, Oppenheimer released his most acclaimed work, The Act of Killing. The film is an exploration of the Indonesian genocide of the 1960s and its reverberations today. It won numerous awards, including the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Documentary, as well as being nominated for the 2014 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
In 2015, Oppenheimer released The Look of Silence, a companion piece to The Act of Killing. The film follows an optometrist as he confronts the men who killed his brother during the Indonesian genocide. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2016.
Oppenheimer's work has been praised for its unique approach to documentary filmmaking and its unflinching look at difficult subject matter. His films have been widely acclaimed and have been featured in numerous film festivals around the world.
Oppenheimer is currently working on a new documentary about the role of the military in Indonesia. He has also been involved in numerous humanitarian efforts, including the creation of a film school in Indonesia.
Oppenheimer's dedication to his craft and commitment to telling difficult stories has earned him considerable praise and recognition. He is an inspiring filmmaker who has made a significant contribution to the documentary genre.
