Liz Garbus facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Liz Garbus
Garbus in 2013
Born	Elizabeth Freya Garbus (1970-04-11) April 11, 1970 (age 55)
Nationality	American
Education	Brown University
Occupation	Documentary filmmaker
Years active	1993–present
Spouse(s)	Dan Cogan
Children	2

Garbus at the Miami Film Festival presentation of Nothing Left Unsaid

Liz Garbus is an American filmmaker who makes amazing documentaries. She was born on April 11, 1970. Documentaries are films that tell true stories about real people and events.

Some of the well-known documentaries Liz Garbus has directed include The Farm: Angola, USA, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Love, Marilyn, What Happened, Miss Simone?, and Becoming Cousteau. She is also a co-founder of Story Syndicate, a company in New York City that creates documentaries.

Early Life and Learning

Liz Garbus grew up in New York City. Her father, Martin Garbus, was a lawyer who fought for civil rights. Her mother, Ruth Meitin Garbus, was a writer and therapist. Her family is Jewish.

In 1992, Liz Garbus graduated from Brown University with high honors. She earned a bachelor's degree in history.

Her Filmmaking Journey

Liz Garbus started making films when she was in high school. She made a documentary about students' last day of school. While at Brown University, she took classes to learn more about making videos.

After college, she worked as an intern at Miramax, a film studio. Later, she got a job working for filmmaker Jonathan Stack.

Early Success and Awards

In 1998, Liz Garbus co-directed a film called The Farm: Angola, USA with Jonathan Stack. This film was nominated for an Academy Award, which is a very important award in filmmaking. It also won several other awards, including the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and two Emmy awards.

Also in 1998, she started her own documentary company called Moxie Firecracker Films. She co-founded it with Rory Kennedy, who also went to Brown University.

Important Documentaries

In 2002, Liz Garbus's film The Execution of Wanda Jean was shown at the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2003, she directed The Nazi Officer's Wife. Famous actresses Susan Sarandon and Julia Ormond helped tell the story in this film.

In 2005, Liz Garbus worked with Rory Kennedy to produce Street Fight. This film was about a mayoral election in Newark in 2002 and was also nominated for an Academy Award.

In 2007, her film Ghosts of Abu Ghraib won an Emmy for being an outstanding non-fiction special. This film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

That same year, Liz Garbus directed Coma, which was shown on HBO. This film followed four patients with brain injuries as they received treatment.

In 2011, Liz Garbus directed Bobby Fischer Against the World. This documentary told the story of the famous chess match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1972. It was shown on HBO and opened the documentary section of the Sundance Film Festival.

Liz Garbus was nominated for a second Academy Award in 2011 for producing Killing in the Name with Rory Kennedy.

Her 2012 film, Love, Marilyn, featured many famous actors reading from Marilyn Monroe's private writings. This film was a special premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and later aired on HBO.

In 2014, Liz Garbus directed and produced A Good Job: Stories of the FDNY. This film shared stories from firefighters and included interviews by former firefighter and actor Steve Buscemi.

In 2015, she directed What Happened, Miss Simone?, a documentary about the singer Nina Simone. This film opened the Sundance Film Festival. It was nominated for an Academy Award and a Grammy. It also won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary. Netflix released the film on June 26, 2015.

In 2018, Liz Garbus released The Fourth Estate on Showtime. This documentary series showed what it was like inside The New York Times newsroom during important investigations.

Also in 2018, HBO showed her documentary A Dangerous Son. This film looked at three families dealing with severe mental illness in their children.

In 2020, Liz Garbus released All In: The Fight for Democracy. This documentary was about voting rights in the United States and featured activist Stacey Abrams.

In 2021, she released Becoming Cousteau, a documentary about the famous ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, for National Geographic Documentary Films. In 2022, Liz Garbus directed Harry & Meghan, a documentary series for Netflix about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Personal Life

Liz Garbus is married to film producer Dan Cogan. They have two children, a daughter named Amelia and a son named Theodore.

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Producer	Notes
1996	Final Judgment: The Execution of Antonio James
1998	The Farm: Angola, USA
1999	Different Moms		Executive
2000	Epidemic Africa			Documentary short
2000	The Changing Face of Beauty			Co-directed with Rory Kennedy
2000	Juvies
2000	True Life – MTV			Episode: "The Travelers"
2002	The Execution of Wanda Jean
2002	Schooling Jewel
2003	Together: Stop Violence Against Women
2003	A Boy's Life
2003	The Nazi Officer's Wife
2003	Pandemic: Facing AIDS			TV mini-series documentary
2003	Girlhood
2003	Con Man
2004	Indian Point: Imagining the Unimaginable
2005	Xiara's Song			Cinemax
2005	P.O.V.			Episode: Street Fight
2006	Yo soy Boricua, pa'que tu lo sepas!			Co-directed with Rosie Perez
2006	Ten Days That Unexpectedly Changed America			Episode: "The Homestead Strike"
2007	Addiction			Episode: "Brain Imaging Brookhaven National Laboratory"
2007	Coma IV
2007	Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
2009	Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech
2010	Family Affair
2010	The Fence (La Barda)			Documentary short
2010	Killing in the Name			Documentary short
2011	Bobby Fischer Against the World
2011	There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane
2011	The Fight for Fischer's Estate			Video documentary short
2011	Chess History			Video documentary short
2011	Focus Forward: Short Films, Big Ideas			Documentary short
2012	Love, Marilyn
2012	Robot			Documentary short
2014	A Good Job: Stories of the FDNY
2013	Before the Spring: After the Fall
2015	What Happened, Miss Simone?
2016	Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper
2018	The Fourth Estate
2018	A Dangerous Son
2019	Who Killed Garrett Phillips?			Two-part documentary
2020	Lost Girls
2020	I'll Be Gone in the Dark			Six episodes
2020	All In: The Fight for Democracy
2020	Ariana Grande: Excuse Me, I Love You			Concert film
2021	The Handmaid's Tale
2021	Becoming Cousteau
2021	Fauci
2022	Harry & Meghan			Documentary series; six episodes
2023	Last Call: When a ... Stalked Queer New York			Documentary series

Awards and Recognitions

Liz Garbus has received many honors and awards for her documentary work:

• She was a Fellow at the Open Society's Center on Crime, Communities, and Culture.
• 1998: Won the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for The Farm: Angola, USA.
• 1998: Won the L.A. Film Critics Association Awards for Best Documentary for The Farm: Angola, USA.
• 1998: Won the New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Non-Fiction Film for The Farm: Angola, USA.
• 1999: Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for The Farm: Angola, USA.
• 2007: Won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special for Ghosts of Abu Ghraib.
• 2015: Won a Peabody Award for What Happened, Miss Simone?.
• 2016: Won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special for What Happened, Miss Simone?.
• 2016: Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for What Happened, Miss Simone?.

See also

In Spanish: Liz Garbus para niños