For almost two decades, Ellen Spiro has pushed the boundaries of the documentary form by creating award-winning and imaginative films, including Diana's Hair Ego, Greetings From Out Here, Roam Sweet Home, Atomic Ed and the Black Hole, Are the Kids Alright? (with Karen Bernstein), Troop 1500 and, now, Body of War (with Phil Donahue).

Body of War won the Best Documentary Award from the National Board of Review and was nominated for a Producer's Guild Award. Body of War will be broadcast nationally on the Sundance Channel Nov. 11 (Veteran's Day) and is now available on DVD.

Spiro has been awarded The Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television's Gracie Award for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Documentary, an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary, and is a two-time recipient of the Rockefeller fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Jerome Foundation Fellowship, and a commendation from the Texas State Legislature.

Spiro's films have been shown in film festivals internationally, broadcast on television worldwide on PBS, HBO, BBC, CBC and NHK and are housed in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Peabody Collection of the Museum of Television and Radio and the New York Public Library.

She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Texas in Austin.

Blog Entries by Ellen Spiro

Ron Kovic and Tomas Young

Posted November 10, 2008 | 03:43 PM (EST)


Ron Kovic, the real life guy whose story was the basis for Born On the Fourth of July, attended the LA opening of Body of War. The event was sponsored by the Progressive Democrats of America.

After the credits, Kovic wheeled to the front of the theatre and...

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Body of War -- Take Action for Tomas Young

Posted June 10, 2008 | 09:06 PM (EST)


Take Action for Tomas Young

On April 4, 2004 Tomas Young was shot and paralyzed in Iraq in an unarmored Humvee. He came home to become an outspoken anti-war activist, transforming his anger at the Bush administration into action. Tomas' fight to bring the troops home is deeply personal....

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