“In my opinion, William Greaves is the leading Black documentary filmmaker in the United States today.”
          - - William Sloan, The Museum of Modern Art  

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

William Greaves, one of the most respected independents in the film and television production field, has enjoyed success within the full spectrum of the entertainment arts as, variously, a producer, director, writer, editor, cameraman, actor, dancer, drama teacher and song writer. Hailed as a "Renaissance man" and as "a thoroughly original multi-faceted American artist," Greaves has produced and directed four feature films and produced scores of documentary films and television programs. His films have won more than 70 international film festival awards, an Emmy and four Emmy nominations. Greaves, who is considered to be the dean of African-American filmmakers, has helped to launch the careers of many African-American filmmakers.

Greaves recently produced and directed Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 ½. The feature film, which was co-produced with Steven Soderbergh and Steve Buscemi, is a sequel to the critically acclaimed Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, and the second in a series of five Symbio films which he shot in Central Park in the summer of 1968. Additional scenes for Take 2 ½ were shot in November 2003 - with the same lead actors playing the same characters 35 years later. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005 and has since been invited to numerous international film festivals here and abroad. Take One, which is now being released theatrically by Janus films, received high praise from critics when it premiered at the IFC Center in New York this October. Take One and Take 2 ½ received the National Society of Film Critics' 2005 Award for Best Experimental Film.

In addition to the ground-breaking Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One and Take 2 ½ Greaves has produced and directed the classic cinéma vérité fight movie, Ali The Fighter, starring Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, and a 1970's blaxploitation feature, The Marijuana Affair, starring Calvin Lockhart. He was also executive producer of Universal Pictures' hit motion picture, Bustin' Loose, starring Richard Pryor and Cicely Tyson.

Greaves' commitment to artistic excellence earned him induction into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1980; the coveted Emmy for his work as executive producer of the classic public affairs network TV series, "Black Journal"; a special "homage" from the first Black American Independent Film Festival in Paris and Joseph Papp's Public Theater in New York; an "Indy" - Special Lifetime Achievement Award - from the Association of independent Video and Filmmakers, in 1986; and special image awards from the NAACP and the National Urban League, among other organizations. In December of 2004, he was honored by the International Documentary Association with a Career Achievement Award, the organization's top award.

A longtime member of the Actors Studio in New York, Greaves was honored by the Studio with its first Dusa award, together with such well-known Studio alumnae as Robert DeNiro, Jane Fonda, Marlon Brando, Sally Field, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Steve McQueen and Ellen Burstyn, in 1980. From 1969 to 1982, he taught acting for film and television for the late Lee Strasberg at the Strasberg Theater Institute. During this period, Greaves, along with film directors Elia Kazan and Arthur Penn, and actors Lee Grant, Shelley Winters and Eli Wallach, occasionally substituted for Mr. Strasberg as moderator of the acting sessions at the Studio. Greaves has also conducted workshops for film directors and screen actors throughout the United States and abroad. WILLIAM GREAVES (Continued)

Greaves began his career as a featured actor on Broadway, in television and in films. He formed William Greaves Productions, Inc. in 1968. Among the many outstanding films the company has produced is From These Roots, on the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. The film has won more than 20 film festival awards and is recognized as a classic in African-American history studies. In addition to the production of documentaries, television programs and features, the company distributes its own library of films on video and DVD to universities, libraries, schools and cultural institutions throughout the US.

Many of Greaves' films explore the lives of extraordinary African-Americans, famous and forgotten. Prominent among them is the critically acclaimed, Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice, in which Toni Morrison reads from the diary and writings of the militant Black journalist. The film, which was shown primetime on the PBS network series "The American Experience," has won more than 20 film festival awards. The award-winning biography, Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey, which Greaves produced, wrote and directed, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS as a primetime special in 2001. Sidney Poitier narrates the 2-hour documentary on the legendary U.N. Undersecretary General and first person of color in the world to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Poitier also narrates Ralph Bunche: The Odyssey Continues..., a series of 14 videos that Greaves recently completed on various aspects of Dr. Bunche's life and work.

Greaves is now working on the development of a two-hour documentary for public television on the Harlem Renaissance which will utilize unique historical footage he shot in cinéma vérité fashion in 1971 of a cocktail party reunion of distinguished artists, performers, writers and other individuals who made major contributions to the Renaissance of the 1920s.

To arrange a lecture or film presentation, contact Louise Arthur at (800) 874-8314 or email at
	Read a Film Quarterly article on Greaves' work