Mark Achbar
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Mark Achbar is Canadian filmmaker. Achbar is a graduate of Syracuse University's Fine Arts Film Program. Achbar interned in Hollywood on the children's tv programme Bill Daily's Hocus Pocus Gang, followed by a three year stint in Toronto with Sunrise Films on their documentary series Spread Your Wings and the CBC/Disney series Danger Bay. He then teamed up with director Robert Boyd, and received a Gemini nomination for Best Writer on The Canadian Conspiracy, a cultural/political satire for CBC and HBO's Comedy Experiments which chronicled Canada’s secret takeover of the USA. It won a Gemini for Best Entertainment Special and was nominated for an International Emmy.
Achbar moved into independent media, working in many capacities on films, videos and books on issues ranging from nuclear lunacy, poverty, and East Timor, to the media, U.S. hegemony and corporate power.
With Peter Wintonick, Achbar co-directed and co-produced Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, which was, until the release of The Corporation Canada's all-time, top-grossing feature documentary. Achbar’s companion book to the film hit the national best-seller list in Canada.
Achbar collaborated with editor Jennifer Abbott to create Two Brides and a Scalpel: Diary of a Lesbian Marriage, a low-budget video diary by the couple known as Canada's first legally married lesbians. This true story of “boy meets girl, boy marries girl, boy becomes girl” received festival invitations from around the globe and was broadcast in Canada on Pridevision and the Knowledge Network.
In 1997, Achbar initiated a project titled The Corporation with author and University of British Columbia law professor Joel Bakan. Bakan wrote the film and book, while Achbar directed, produced and executive-produced the film. Jennifer Abbott joined the team as editor and co-director in 2000.
[edit] Selected films
As director and producer:
- Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)
- Two Brides and a Scalpel: Diary of a Lesbian Marriage (1999)
- The Corporation (2003)
As associate producer:
- Bitter Paradise: The Sell-out of East Timor (1996)
[edit] Awards
- Gemini Award nomination, Best Writer, The Canadian Conspiracy — "a cultural/political satire for CBC and HBO's Comedy Experiments."
AWARDS FOR THE CORPORATION:
Audience Award, World Cinema, Documentary Sundance Film Festival
Audience Award Philadelphia International Film Festival
Audience Award Vancouver International Film Festival
Audience Award Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival
Audience Award FIC Brasilia International Film Festival
Audience Award (1st runner-up) Calgary International Film Festival
Audience Award (1st runner-up) Toronto International Film Festival
Insight Award for Excellence National Association of Film and Digital Media Artists, USA
Best Documentary The Genie Awards, 2005
Genesis Award for Outstanding Documentary Film United States Humane Society
Audience Award for Best Feature Length Film Ecocinema International Film Festival, Rhodes
Best Feature Documentary Environmental Media Association Awards
Reel Room Audience Award for Best Documentary Sydney Film Festival
Joris Ivens Special Jury Award International Documentary Festival, Amsterdam
NFB Best Documentary Award Calgary International Film Festival
Best Feature Length Documentary Ecocinema International Film Festival, Rhodes
Top Ten Films of the Year Toronto International Film Festival Group
Best Documentary Program or Series - History/Biography/Social/Political Leo Award
Best Direction in a Documentary Program or Series Leo Award
Best Screenwriting in a Documentary Program or Series Leo Award
Best Picture Editing in a Documentary Program or Series Leo Award
Best Overall Sound in a Documentary Program or Series Leo Award
Best Sound Editing in a Documentary Program or Series Leo Award
Best Documentary (1st runner-up) Seattle International Film Festival
Special Jury Mention Montreal New Film And Video Festival
AWARDS FOR MANUFACTURING CONSENT
Golden Sesterce (Grand Prize) 1992 Nyon International Documentary Film Festival
Special Mention, FIPRESCI International Press Jury 1992 Nyon INternational Documentary Film Festival
Special Mention, Public Jury 1992 Nyon International Documentary Film Festival
Federal Express Award for Most Popular Canadian Film 1992 Vancouver International Film Festival
Gold Hugo (Best Social/Political Documentary) 1992 Chicago International Film Festival
Special Mention, Unanimous Jury Award 1992 Toronto International Festival of Festivals
Jury Prize for Excellence 1992 Atlantic Film Festival
Public's "Most Loved" Documentary 1992 Sydney International Film Festival
Gold Apple 1993 National Educational Film and Video Festival
Honourable Mention 1993 American Film and Video Festival
'Director's Choice Award 1993 Charlotte Film and Video Festival
Voted "Best of the Festival" by Public 1993 Edmonton Global Visions Film Festival
Gold Conch (Grand Prize ex-aqueo) 1994 Bombay International Documentary Film Festival
Grand Prize- Best Political Documentary 1994 Canadian Documentary Film Festival
The film was nominated or semi-finalist for the following:
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
International Documentary Association Awards
Blois International Film Festival
Quinzaine dy cinema quebecois
The Orwell Award
Best Docuementary of the Year - New Internationalist Magazine
