Photo: Katy Scoggin / CC BY 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Laura Poitras represents, for me, the idea that the act of filming can itself be resistance. Capturing Edward Snowden in Citizenfour was not just documentary work; it was a calculated risk against the apparatus of surveillance she was exposing. The MacArthur, the Guggenheim, the Polk, the Academy Award, these are not decorations so much as scars from sustained confrontation with power. I am drawn to artists who point the lens at what others want hidden, and few do it with her composure. Poitras turns observation into a moral stance, and that, to me, is the highest form of filmmaking.
Overview
Laura Poitras (; born February 2, 1964) is an American director and producer of documentary films. Poitras has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2015 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Citizenfour, about Edward Snowden, while My Country, My Country received a nomination in the same category in 2007.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Laura Poitras
- Name (Japanese)
- ローラ・ポイトラス
- Reading
- ろーら・ぽいとらす
- Born
- February 2, 1964 (age 62)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Dragon
- Origin
- Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- film producer / film director / journalist / camera operator / cinematographer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 2013 EFF Award
- 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship
- 2012 MacArthur Fellows Program
- 2013 George Polk Award
- 2014 Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize
- 2015 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film
- 2014 Medal Carl von Ossietzky
- 2010 Anonymous Was A Woman Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Film producer — see all → · Film director — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.