Thomas Allen Harris
Encyclopedia
Thomas Allen Harris is the founder and President of Chimpanzee Productions a company dedicated to producing unique audio-visual experiences that illuminate the Human Condition and the search for identity, family, and spirituality. Chimpanzee’s innovative and award-winning films have received critical acclaim at International film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Toronto, FESPACO, Outfest, Flaherty and Cape Town and have been broadcast on PBS, the Sundance Channel, ARTE, as well as CBC, Swedish Broadcasting Network and New Zealand Television. In addition, Harris’ videos and installations have been featured at prestigious museums and galleries including the Museum of Modern Art
, Whitney Biennial
, Corcoran Gallery, Reina Sophia, London Institute of the Arts and the Gwangju Biennale.
, Harris is a graduate of Harvard College
and the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program. Harris began his career producing for public television, for which he received several awards including two Emmy nominations (in 1991) for his work as a staff producer at WNET (New York’s PBS affiliate) on THE ELEVENTH HOUR. In 1990 he curated the first New York/San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Town Hall meeting, a three-hour public television event, which culminated in the broadcast of Marlon Riggs Tongues Untied.
After the success of several experimental short films, Harris completed his first feature, VINTAGE – Families of Value (1995), a documentary
that looks at black families through the lens of Queer siblings. VINTAGE won Best Documentary at the Atlanta Film Festival, a Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival
and was broadcast on Free Speech Television in 1999.
His next film, É Minha Cara/That’s My Face (2001) a queer mythopoetic journey through the African Diaspora, premiered at the Toronto, Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals and won seven international awards, including the Best Documentary at Outfest and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury of Christian Churches at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival. The film was broadcast on the Sundance Channel as well as on ARTE, the CBC and YLE.
Harris’ 2005 film, Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela
, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
, won Best Documentary at the Pan-African and the Santa Cruz Film Festivals, the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking at the Roxbury Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award before being broadcast nationally on the POV documentary series as well as Swedish and New Zealand Television.
Harris is currently developing several new projects including Through A Lens Darkly a documentary about Black photographers and an interactive multi-platform project that provides a new look at the Black photographic archive. He is also Executive Producing a documentary about Queer Africans seeking exile in Canada.
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, Whitney Biennial
Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is a biennale exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1932, the first biennial was in 1973...
, Corcoran Gallery, Reina Sophia, London Institute of the Arts and the Gwangju Biennale.
Biography
Born in the Bronx and raised in New York City and Dar Es Salaam, TanzaniaTanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
, Harris is a graduate of Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
and the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Study Program. Harris began his career producing for public television, for which he received several awards including two Emmy nominations (in 1991) for his work as a staff producer at WNET (New York’s PBS affiliate) on THE ELEVENTH HOUR. In 1990 he curated the first New York/San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Town Hall meeting, a three-hour public television event, which culminated in the broadcast of Marlon Riggs Tongues Untied.
After the success of several experimental short films, Harris completed his first feature, VINTAGE – Families of Value (1995), a documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
that looks at black families through the lens of Queer siblings. VINTAGE won Best Documentary at the Atlanta Film Festival, a Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. Organized by the San Francisco Film Society, the International is held each spring for two weeks, presenting an average of 150 films from over 50 countries...
and was broadcast on Free Speech Television in 1999.
His next film, É Minha Cara/That’s My Face (2001) a queer mythopoetic journey through the African Diaspora, premiered at the Toronto, Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals and won seven international awards, including the Best Documentary at Outfest and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury of Christian Churches at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival. The film was broadcast on the Sundance Channel as well as on ARTE, the CBC and YLE.
Harris’ 2005 film, Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela
Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela
Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela is a 2006 documentary film about a generation of men who left South Africa to form the African National Congress and spread their message across the world. Considered terrorists by the U.S...
, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
, won Best Documentary at the Pan-African and the Santa Cruz Film Festivals, the Henry Hampton Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking at the Roxbury Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award before being broadcast nationally on the POV documentary series as well as Swedish and New Zealand Television.
Harris is currently developing several new projects including Through A Lens Darkly a documentary about Black photographers and an interactive multi-platform project that provides a new look at the Black photographic archive. He is also Executive Producing a documentary about Queer Africans seeking exile in Canada.