Pamela Yates facts for kids
Pamela Yates is an American documentary filmmaker and human rights activist. This means she makes movies that tell true stories, often about people's rights and fairness. She has directed films about serious topics like war crimes, racism, and genocide. Her movies often focus on how legal systems respond to these issues.
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About Pamela Yates
Pamela Yates grew up in the Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania, where people mined coal. She later moved to New York City. In 1976, she earned a degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Her Important Work
Pamela Yates is a Guggenheim Fellow, which is a special award given to people who are very creative. She directed When the Mountains Tremble, which won an award at the Sundance Film Festival. She also produced Loss of Innocence, which won an Emmy Award. Another film she helped with, "Witness to War," won an Academy Award.
More recently, she directed Granito: How to Nail a Dictator. This film was so important that it was used as evidence in a genocide trial in Guatemala. She also directed The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court. This movie is about the International Criminal Court, a court that deals with very serious crimes around the world. Another film, State of Fear, tells the story of a 20-year conflict in Peru.
Pamela Yates also helped start Skylight Pictures. This company makes independent films that are artistic and focus on human rights and justice.
Her Films and Their Impact
State of Fear
Her 2006 film, State of Fear: The Truth about Terrorism, was about a conflict in Peru. It was translated into 44 languages and shown in 157 countries. This helped many people around the world learn about what happened.
The Reckoning
The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court came out in 2009. It shows the important work of the International Criminal Court. In 2010, Pamela Yates was nominated for two Emmys for this film. It was also nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. These are big awards in the film world.
Granito: How to Nail a Dictator
Her 2011 film, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, is a follow-up to When the Mountains Tremble. In this film, Yates used her old video footage to help provide evidence for a trial. This trial was trying to bring justice for the genocide in Guatemala. The film was shown at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. It was also nominated for an Emmy award. Pamela Yates received a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on this film. The film's evidence was very important in the Ríos Montt genocide trial in Guatemala. In 2015, the film won the White Camel award at the FiSahara.
Awards and Recognition
Pamela Yates has received many awards for her films.
- Four of her films were nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
- When the Mountains Tremble won this award in 1984.
- Other nominated films include Poverty Outlaw, Takeover, and Teatro!.
- Her film, State of Fear: The Truth about Terrorism, won the 2006 Overseas Press Club Award. This award was for the best reporting on Latin America.
Awards for Granito: How to Nail A Dictator
Her 2011 documentary, Granito: How to Nail A Dictator, received many honors:
- It was an Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011.
- It received an Emmy Nomination in 2013.
- It was the Opening Night Film at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival in 2011.
- It won the Grand Prix for Best Creative Documentary at the Paris International Human Rights Film Festival.
- It also won the Peace & Reconciliation Prize at The Geneva International Human Rights Festival in 2011.
- Other awards include the Jury Grand Prize at The Politics on Film Festival in 2011.
- It received an Honorable Mention from the Overseas Press Club Award in 2012.
- It won the Founder's Award at the Traverse City Film Festival in 2011.
Selected Films
Here are some of the films Pamela Yates has worked on:
- Resurgence: The Movement for Equality vs. The Ku Klux Klan (1981)
- When the Mountains Tremble (1983)
- Nicaragua: Report from the Front (1983)
- Teatro! (1990)
- Takeover (1990)
- Poverty Outlaw (1997)
- Outriders (1999)
- Brotherhood of Hate (1999)
- Battle for Broad (2000)
- Cause for Murder (2002)
- Presumed Guilty: Tales of the Public Defenders (2002)
- State of Fear: The Truth about Terrorism (2005)
- Living Broke in Boom Times (2007)
- The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court, (2008)
- Granito: How to Nail a Dictator (2011)
- Rebel Citizen (2015)
- 500 Years (2017)
- Borderland (2024)
