Pamela Yates
Encyclopedia
Pamela Yates is an American
documentary
filmmaker and human rights activist. She has directed films about war crimes, racism
, and genocide
in the United States
and Latin America
, often with emphasis on the legal responses.
coal-mining region of Pennsylvania
. She ran away from home at age 15 to live in New York City
.
She earned a degree in filmmaking from New York University
. Yates was a co-founder of Skylight Pictures, a documentary production company based in New York City.
, about the findings of Truth and Reconciliation Commission
concerning the internal conflict in Peru
, was translated into 44 languages and broadcast in 157 countries.
The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court, released in 2009, is about the work of the International Criminal Court
. In 2010, Yates was nominated for two Emmys for it — Best Documentary Film and Outstanding Investigative Journalism in a Long Form Documentary. The Reckoning was nominated for a the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
.
Her 2011 film, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, is a sequel to When the Mountains Tremble
. In it, Yates uses her archives to provide evidence for a war crimes tribunal set in Spain
(using the concept of universal jurisdiction
) in its efforts to prosecute the genocide in Guatemala.The film was an official selection included in the Premiere Documentary Section of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Yates received a Guggenheim Fellowship
for her work on the film.
, Poverty Outlaw, Takeover, and Teatro! — were nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
, and When The Mountains Tremble won the award in 1984.
Her film, State of Fear: The Truth about Terrorism
, won the 2006 Overseas Press Club
Award for "Best Reporting in Any Medium on Latin America".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
filmmaker and human rights activist. She has directed films about war crimes, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, and genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, often with emphasis on the legal responses.
Biography
Yates was born and raised in the AppalachianAppalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
coal-mining region of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. She ran away from home at age 15 to live in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
She earned a degree in filmmaking from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. Yates was a co-founder of Skylight Pictures, a documentary production company based in New York City.
Work
Her 2006 film, State of Fear: The Truth about TerrorismState of Fear: The Truth about Terrorism
State of Fear: The Truth about Terrorism is a documentary film produced by Skylight Pictures and directed by Pamela Yates. It won the 2006 Overseas Press Club Award for "Best Reporting in Any Medium on Latin America"...
, about the findings of Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Peru)
The Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in 2001 after the fall of president Alberto Fujimori, to examine abuses committed during the 1980s and 1990s, when Peru was plagued by the worst political violence in the history of the republic...
concerning the internal conflict in Peru
Internal conflict in Peru
It has been estimated that nearly 70,000 people died in the internal conflict in Peru that started in 1980 and, although still ongoing, had greatly wound down by 2000. The principal actors in the war were the Shining Path , the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement and the government of Peru.A great...
, was translated into 44 languages and broadcast in 157 countries.
The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court, released in 2009, is about the work of the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
. In 2010, Yates was nominated for two Emmys for it — Best Documentary Film and Outstanding Investigative Journalism in a Long Form Documentary. The Reckoning was nominated for a the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
.
Her 2011 film, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, is a sequel to When the Mountains Tremble
When the Mountains Tremble
When The Mountains Tremble is 1983 documentary produced by Skylight Pictures about the war between the Guatemalan Military and the Mayan Indian population of Guatemala. The film centers on the experiences of future Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, nine...
. In it, Yates uses her archives to provide evidence for a war crimes tribunal set in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(using the concept of universal jurisdiction
Universal jurisdiction
Universal jurisdiction or universality principle is a principle in public international law whereby states claim criminal jurisdiction over persons whose alleged crimes were committed outside the boundaries of the prosecuting state, regardless of nationality, country of residence, or any other...
) in its efforts to prosecute the genocide in Guatemala.The film was an official selection included in the Premiere Documentary Section of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Yates received a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
for her work on the film.
Accolades
Four of Yates' films — When the Mountains TrembleWhen the Mountains Tremble
When The Mountains Tremble is 1983 documentary produced by Skylight Pictures about the war between the Guatemalan Military and the Mayan Indian population of Guatemala. The film centers on the experiences of future Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, nine...
, Poverty Outlaw, Takeover, and Teatro! — were nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, and When The Mountains Tremble won the award in 1984.
Her film, State of Fear: The Truth about Terrorism
State of Fear: The Truth about Terrorism
State of Fear: The Truth about Terrorism is a documentary film produced by Skylight Pictures and directed by Pamela Yates. It won the 2006 Overseas Press Club Award for "Best Reporting in Any Medium on Latin America"...
, won the 2006 Overseas Press Club
Overseas Press Club
The Overseas Press Club of America was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member...
Award for "Best Reporting in Any Medium on Latin America".
Selected filmography
- Resurgence: The Movement for Equality vs. The Ku Klux Klan (1981)
- When the Mountains TrembleWhen the Mountains TrembleWhen The Mountains Tremble is 1983 documentary produced by Skylight Pictures about the war between the Guatemalan Military and the Mayan Indian population of Guatemala. The film centers on the experiences of future Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, nine...
(1983) - Nicaragua: Report from the Front (1983)
- Teatro! (1990)
- Takeover (1990)
- Poverty Outlaw (1997)
- Outriders (1999)
- Brotherhood of Hate (1999)
- Battle for Broad (2000)
- Cause for Murder (2002)
- Presumed Guilty: Tales of the Public Defenders (2002)
- State of Fear: The Truth about TerrorismState of Fear: The Truth about TerrorismState of Fear: The Truth about Terrorism is a documentary film produced by Skylight Pictures and directed by Pamela Yates. It won the 2006 Overseas Press Club Award for "Best Reporting in Any Medium on Latin America"...
(2005) - Living Broke in Boom Times (2007)
- The Reckoning, (formerly The Court of Last Resort) (2008)
- Granito (2011)