Eric Ellena
Encyclopedia
Career
As a director his films include The Last Trackers of the OutbackThe Last Trackers of the Outback
The Last Trackers of the Outback is a 2007 documentary film about Aboriginal trackers in Australia.The documentary, co-directed by Eric Ellena and Vanessa Escalante, won the Public’s Choice Award 2008 FIFO - Pacific International Documentary Film Festival of Tahiti...
, which won the Public’s Choice Award at the 2008 FIFO - Pacific International Documentary Film Festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
of Tahiti and The Long March of Bob Slaughter.
In 2000, his script Drugstore was one of 24 scripts selected from a regional French competition of 3,600 entries to be produced as a short film. His script was directed by Marion Vernoux and actress Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi played the lead role. The 24 films were then was shown at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
as part of an anti-drug awareness raising campaign Drug Scenes
Drug Scenes
Drug Scenes is a omnibus film of 24 French short films depicting drug abuse...
(Original French title:Scénarios sur la Drogue).
He was a producer on The Universe of Keith Haring
The Universe of Keith Haring
The Universe of Keith Haring is a 2008 documentary by the filmmaker Christina Clause about the artist Keith Haring. In the film, the legacy of Haring is resurrected through colorful archival footage and remembered by friends and admirers such as artists Kenny Scharf and Yoko Ono, gallery owners...
, a documentary by the filmmaker Christina Clausen. In the film, the legacy of Keith Haring
Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...
is resurrected through colorful archival footage and remembered by friends and admirers such as artists Kenny Scharf
Kenny Scharf
Kenny Scharf is an American painter who lives in Brooklyn, New York. The artist received his B.F.A in 1980 at the School of Visual Arts located in New York City. Scharf's works consist of popular culture based shows with made up science-related backgrounds...
and Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, gallery owners Jeffrey Deitch and Tony Shafrazi
Tony Shafrazi
Tony Shafrazi is the owner of the Shafrazi Art Gallery in New York, who deals artwork by artists such as Francis Bacon, Keith Haring, and David LaChapelle....
, and the choreographer Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones is an American artistic director, choreographer and dancer.-Early life:Jones was born in Bunnell, Florida and his family moved North as part of the Great Migration in the first half of the twentieth century. They settled in Wayland, New York, where Jones attended Wayland High School...
.
For The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
The Jill & Tony Curtis Story
This 2008 feature-length documentary directed by Ian Ayres, is about Tony Curtis and his wife and their efforts to rescue horses from slaughterhouses. A camera crew follows Jill and Tony Curtis as they take in horses that would have been inhumanely killed and sent overseas as food for humans...
, he served as an executive producer.
He is co-director of the documentary I Remember Better When I Paint
I Remember Better When I Paint
I Remember Better When I Paint is a 2009 feature length international documentary film about the positive impact of art and other creative therapies in people with Alzheimer's disease and how these approaches can change the way the disease is viewed by society...
. The film, inspired by the story of Hilda Goldblatt Gorenstein (Hilgos)
Hilda Goldblatt Gorenstein (Hilgos)
-Early Years:A native of Montreal who grew up in Portland, Oregon, Gorenstein started painting as a teenager at a time when women artists weren't very well received...
, focuses on how the creative arts can help Alzheimer's patients re-engage in life. A French version of the film "Je me souviens mieux quand je peins" was released as part of the French Alzheimer Association's activities on World Alzheimer's Day in September 2009. Extracts from "Je me souviens mieux quand je peins" were featured on France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
television
and screened for the International Health Film Festival
International Health Film Festival
The International Health Film Festival , is an annual French language documentary film festival held in Liege, Belgium. The festival was established in 1994 and is dedicated to promoting better health and increased knowledge of health and science....
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
He is a producer on Five Roads to Freedom: From Apartheid to the World Cup
Five Roads to Freedom: From Apartheid to the World Cup
Five Roads to Freedom: From Apartheid to the World Cup is a 2010 documentary co-directed by Robin Benger and Jane Thandi Lipman that looks at South Africa's revolutionary transformation through the eyes of five men and women who lived under the shadow of apartheid.The documentary focuses on five...
a documentary released in 2010 that looks at the revolutionary transformation in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
through the eyes of five men and women who lived under the shadow of apartheid.