Su Friedrich facts for kids

Su Friedrich, born on December 12, 1954, is an American filmmaker. She directs, produces, writes, and works as a cinematographer. She is known for her unique and experimental films.

Early Life and Education

Su Friedrich was born in 1954 in New Haven, Connecticut. Her mother was from Germany. Her father, Paul Friedrich, was working in Germany at the time.

Su Friedrich studied at the University of Chicago from 1971 to 1972. She then attended Oberlin College from 1972 to 1975. There, she earned a degree in Art and Art History.

Today, she lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She is a Professor at Princeton University. She has taught film and video production there since 1998. Her first film, Hot Water, was made in 1978. Since then, she has created many films and videos.

Her Work as a Filmmaker

Su Friedrich's films often mix different styles. They combine storytelling, real-life events, and experimental ideas. Her movies often explore the roles of women and families in modern America.

Since the late 1970s, Friedrich has been a key person in experimental filmmaking. Her work has changed how films are made and what they are about. She brings a fresh view to her films. She combines different film types in new ways. These include experimental, narrative, and documentary styles.

Friedrich's films explore different ideas. They move between personal stories and bigger social topics. She uses many tools in her filmmaking. These include home videos, old film clips, interviews, and written stories.

Awards and Recognition

Su Friedrich has received many important awards. She won the Cal Arts Alpert Award in the Arts. She also received fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. She has also gotten many grants from other organizations.

Her films and videos are shown in many places. These include the US, Canada, and Europe. Major film centers have shown her work. These include the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Rotterdam International Film Festival.

Friedrich's films are also part of important collections. You can find them at the Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. Her original film materials are kept safe at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Film Archive in Los Angeles.

Her films have won many awards. The Odds of Recovery won Best Documentary at the Identities Festival in Vienna. Hide and Seek won Best Narrative Film at the Athens International Film Festival. Sink or Swim won the Grand Prix at the Melbourne Film Festival. Damned If You Don't won Best Experimental Film at the Athens Film Festival. She also received the Peter S. Reed Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.

Her films have been reviewed in many well-known publications. These include The New York Times and Film Comment. Essays about her work have also appeared in many books.

The Academy Film Archive holds Su Friedrich's collection of moving images. The archive preserved her film Cool Hands, Warm Heart in 2019.

Filmography

Gently Down the Stream

This short film uses text and re-photographed images. These images show fourteen dreams from Friedrich's journals over eight years. Pictures of the Virgin Mary and Christ appear. Also, a woman exercising and another swimming are shown. A hand-scratched word appears at a time. This draws the viewer into Friedrich's thoughts as she explores her dreams.

The Ties That Bind

The Ties That Bind is a documentary about Friedrich's mother. Her mother was born in Ulm, Germany. She grew up during the time of the Third Reich. The film tells her personal story in Germany. It covers the rise of Nazism and life during the war. It also shows the day the war ended. This is told through an interview by her daughter, the director.

The mother's voice is shown with different images. These include Friedrich's trip to Germany. There are also scenes of an anti-nuclear protest in New York. The film also uses the mother's own home videos. The title suggests the connections between the past and present. It also shows the bond between mother and daughter.

Damned If You Don’t

Damned If You Don’t explores themes of faith and personal identity. The film has three parts to its story. One part shows a young woman and a young nun. Another part is based on the film Black Narcissus (1947). This movie is about a nun in a convent in the Himalayas. The third part involves reading from a book by Judith C. Brown. The film explores how female characters are shown in movies.

Sink or Swim

Sink or Swim tells twenty-six short stories. These stories describe childhood events. They show how a girl's ideas about fathers, family, work, and play were formed. As the stories unfold, two pictures appear. One is of a father who cared more about his job than his family. The other is of a daughter deeply affected by his actions. The strong words are balanced by beautiful black and white images. These images show both special and everyday moments of life.

In 2015, the United States Library of Congress chose Sink or Swim for the National Film Registry. It was chosen for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek looks at growing up in the 1960s. Lou is a 12-year-old girl. She daydreams in a tree house. She tries to avoid watching a health education film. She wins a rock-throwing contest. She is upset when her best friend starts liking earrings and boys.

Lou's story is mixed with funny and sometimes sad memories from adults. They try to understand how they got from their childhood to where they are now. The film also includes clips from old science and educational films. These are blended with the black and white images of Lou's world.

From the Ground Up

Friedrich often uses personal stories to support her strong beliefs. In her movie From the Ground Up, she follows the journey of coffee. She traces it from the bean to the finished drink. She wanted to understand why a cup of coffee could cost so little.

The film starts with farmers in the Guatemalan countryside. It follows the bean from the exporter in Guatemala City. Then it goes to the importer in Charleston, SC. Next, it goes to the roaster in Queens. Finally, it ends up in a pushcart in Manhattan.

Instead of a typical documentary, Friedrich made a film that showed her own experience. She was amazed by how big and complex the coffee industry is. She also saw the hard work needed to get coffee from a plant to a cup. While making the film, Friedrich became a supporter of the fair trade coffee movement. She dedicated the film to this movement and the people involved.

Gut Renovation

This documentary is about the changes in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It shows how the area became more expensive. It also shows how long-time businesses and residents were forced to move out.

See also

• List of female film and television directors
• Women's cinema