Pull Focus: Katy Chevigny

Katy Chevigny is an award-winning filmmaker and a co-founder of Big Mouth Productions [1]. For her latest project, Chevigny teamed up with fellow filmmaker Ross Kauffman ("Born into Brothels [2]") to make "E-Team [3]," a documentary which follows an elite group of human rights abuse investigators as they document and expose atrocities in war-torn Libya and Syria. The film premiered at Sundance 2014, where it won the Cinematography Award for US Documentary, and has garnered multiple other awards.

Chevigny's previous credits include "Election Day [4]," which premiered at the South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in 2007 and was broadcast on PBS in 2008, and "Deadline [5]," an investigation into Illinois Governor George Ryan's commutation of death sentences. "Deadline," which she co-directed with Kirsten Johnson, was nominated for an Emmy Award and won the Thurgood Marshall Journalism Award, among others.

Chevigny is a graduate of Yale University and the Chicago Community Film Workshop. She founded Big Mouth Productions in 1997 with Julia Pimsleur "to produce provocative and engaging social-issue documentaries."

Chevigny recently visited the Center to talk with us about her experiences making "E-Team," which screened in the Center's 15th Annual Human Rights Film Series [6]. Watch her interview below (or view the transcript [7]) and read about “E-Team” on the film's website [3] to learn more.

Part 1 of 4: Katy Chevigny discusses the making of "E-Team."

Part 2 of 4: Katy Chevigny talks about working with Human Rights Watch.

Part 3 of 4: Katy Chevigny discusses the security risks that came with making "E-Team."

Part 4 of 4: Katy Chevigny talks about the importance of trust in filming a documentary.

Go to: Katy Chevigny - Transcript [8]