Kirsten Johnson

Directing

Kirsten Johnson

Born October 12, 1965 · Seattle, Washington, USA (age 60)

Kirsten Johnson (born 12 October 1965, Seattle) is a cinematographer and documentary filmmaker. She graduated from Brown University in 1987, with a BA in Fine Arts and Literature. After two years in West Africa working on local fiction and documentary film projects, she attended the FEMIS (the French National Film School) in Paris. Her film "Cameraperson" premiered at Sundance 2016 and her short "…

Known For

Fahrenheit 9/11Fahrenheit 9/11 · 2004
Fahrenheit 9/11
7.12004
MovieDocumentary
Michael Moore's view on how the Bush administration allegedly used the tragic events on 9/11 to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
CitizenfourCitizenfour · 2014
Citizenfour
7.72014
MovieDocumentary
In June 2013, Laura Poitras and reporter Glenn Greenwald flew to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden. She brought her camera with her.
The HamptonsThe Hamptons · 2002
The Hamptons
2002
MovieDocumentary
Filmed between May and September of 2001, a documentary about The Hamptons, an area in the eastern part of Long Island, New York, famous for being a vacation spot for the wealthiest Americans: a place where wealthy families can spend the summer and weekends by the beach.
CamerapersonCameraperson · 2016
Cameraperson
6.72016
MovieDocumentary
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
Fatal AssistanceFatal Assistance · 2013
Fatal Assistance
6.02013
MovieDocumentary
Haitian born filmmaker Raoul Peck takes us on a 2-year journey inside the challenging, contradictory and colossal rebuilding efforts in post-earthquake Haiti.
Dick Johnson Is DeadDick Johnson Is Dead · 2020
Dick Johnson Is Dead
7.12020
MovieDocumentary
With this inventive portrait, director Kirsten Johnson seeks a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever. Utilizing moviemaking magic and her family’s dark humor, she celebrates Dr. Dick Johnson’s last years by staging fantasies of death and beyond. Together, dad and daughter confront the great inevitability awaiting us all.
This Film Is Not Yet RatedThis Film Is Not Yet Rated · 2006
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
7.12006
MovieDocumentary
Kirby Dick's provocative documentary investigates the secretive and inconsistent process by which the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rates films, revealing the organization's underhanded efforts to control culture. Dick questions whether certain studios get preferential treatment and exposes the discrepancies in how the MPAA views sex and violence.
A Decade Under the InfluenceA Decade Under the Influence · 2003
A Decade Under the Influence
7.92003
MovieDocumentary
A documentary examining the decade of the 1970s as a turning point in American cinema. Some of today's best filmmakers interview the influential directors of that time.

Filmography

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Virgin TalesVirgin Tales · 2012
Virgin Tales
5.02012
MovieDocumentary
Evangelical Christians are calling out for a second sexual revolution: chastity. As a counter-movement of the attitudes and practices of today's culture, one in six girls in the US has vowed to remain 'unsoiled' until marriage. But the seven children of the Wilson family, founders of the Purity Ball, take this concept of purity of body and mind one step further; even their first kiss will be at the altar. For two years, the filmmakers follow the Wilson offspring as they prepare for their fairytale vision of romance and marriage and seek out their own prince and princess spouses. In the process, a broader theme emerges: how the religious right is grooming a young generation of virgins to embody an Evangelically-grounded Utopia in America.

Director of Photography