Editing Godfrey Reggio

{{Short description|American filmmaker (born 1940)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Godfrey Reggio
| image              = Godfrey Reggio.jpg
| caption            = Reggio in 2022
| birth_name         = 
| other_names        = 
| birth_date         = {{birth year and age|1940}}
| birth_place        = [[New Orleans]], Louisiana, U.S.
| occupation         = Filmmaker
| known_for          = ''Qatsi'' trilogy
}}

'''Godfrey Reggio''' (born 1940) is an American director of experimental [[documentary film]]s.

==Life==
Reggio was born in [[New Orleans]] in 1940 to a [[Catholic]] family. He left home at age 14 to join the Catholic Christian Brotherhood. He became a monk, and spent 14 years in silence and prayer during his training.<ref name="Guard" /><ref name="GAL" />

During the 1950s and 60s, Reggio worked as a social activist with Chicano street gangs with the Brotherhood in New Mexico. One of the brothers introduced him to the film ''[[Los Olvidados]]'' by the Spanish-French-Mexican surrealist filmmaker [[Luis Buñuel|Luis Bunuel]] which influenced him greatly.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Steve Marsh |title=Life Out of Balance // An interview with Godfrey Reggio |url=https://thegreatnorthernfestival.com/tgn-blog/life-out-of-balance |website=The Great Northern |publisher=Minnesota Public Radio News |access-date=August 4, 2024 }}</ref> He also acknowledges [[Artavazd Peleshyan]], a documentary-poet, who was a mentor and friend.<ref name="Guard">{{cite news |last1=Patterson |first1=John |title=Godfrey Reggio: 'My Che Guevara was Pope John XXIII' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/27/godfrey-regio-visitors-filmmaker-koyaanisqatsi |access-date=September 23, 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=March 27, 2014}}</ref>

==Early work==
Reggio helped found the [[Institute for Regional Education]] in Santa Fe, New Mexico,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Institute for Regional Education, Santa Fe, NM |url=https://www.groundworksnm.org/nonprofit-directory/nonprofit/12974}}</ref> a non-profit foundation. He became a founder of ''La Clinica de la Gente''<ref>{{Cite web |title=La Clinica de la Gente |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/fitch/catalog/zm732vg8952}}</ref> a facility providing medical care and service to 12,000 community members in [[Northern New Mexico|northern New Mexico's]] [[barrio]]s,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Koyaanisqatsi |url=http://www.koyaanisqatsi.org/aboutus/godfrey.php}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bob Fitch Photography Archive. "Santa Fe, New Mexico Murals" |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/fitch/browse/santa-fe-new-mexico-murals?page=2&view=list}}</ref><ref name="Guard" /> as well as founding the Young Citizens for Action, a project aiding juveniles in the street gangs of Santa Fe.<ref name="GAL">{{cite web |title=Biography – Godfrey Reggio |url=https://www.globalartslive.org/sites/default/files/Biography%20-%20Godfrey%20Reggio.pdf |website=Global Arts Live}}</ref>

Reggio worked with the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] of New Mexico in 1972, to develop a media campaign dealing with the loss of privacy and the rise of surveillance, as well as the militarization of police in the U.S. during the post-[[Vietnam War]] era. The media campaign was presented on television, radio, billboards and in major newspapers.<ref name="Guard" />

==Filmmaker==
Reggio is widely known for his wordless filmography, especially the trilogy of ''[[Koyaanisqatsi]]'': “''Life Out of Balance”; [[Powaqqatsi]]:'' “''Life in Transformation''”; and ''[[Naqoyqatsi]]:'' “''Life as War”''. The film titles are taken from the [[Hopi language]]. His short film ''[[Evidence]]'' explores the effect of cinema on the minds of children, and his documentary ''[[Anima Mundi (film)|Anima Mundi]]'' is a montage of images of over seventy animal species. His film ''[[Visitors (2013 film)|Visitors]]'', which premiered at the [[Toronto International Film Festival]], consists for the most part of extended slow-motion closeups of people's faces, looking directly into the camera.<ref name="Guard" />

Reggio’s latest film, ''Once Within a Time'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Once Within a Time |url=https://oncewithinatime.org}}</ref> was produced by [[Steven Soderbergh]] & [[Alexander Rodnyansky]] and had its world premiere at [[Santa Fe International Film Festival]] (SFiFF) in October 2022. The festival awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref name="AJ">{{cite news |last1=Gomez |first1=Adrian |title=Godfrey Reggio to receive the SFiFF's Lifetime Achievement Award |url=https://www.abqjournal.com/archives/godfrey-reggio-to-receive-the-sfiffs-lifetime-achievement-award/article_789eb64e-e338-51be-804a-eb024827b8de.html |access-date=September 24, 2023 |publisher=Albuquerque Journal |date=August 31, 2022}}</ref>

For many years, he has collaborated with the composer [[Philip Glass]] on the musical and orchestral soundtracks that augment Reggio’s wordless films. He also collaborates with Jon Kane, a fellow filmmaker.<ref name="AJ" />

In 2014, Reggio was recognized by the [[Museum of Arts and Design]] in New York City with a full career retrospective titled ''Life with Technology: The Cinema of Godfrey Reggio''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Life with Technology: The Cinema of Godfrey Reggio |url=https://madmuseum.org/series/life-technology-cinema-godfrey-reggio}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=SFiFF's Lifetime Achievement Award |date=August 31, 2022 |url=https://www.abqjournal.com/2528730/godfrey-reggio-to-receive-the-sfiffs-lifetime-achievement-award-excerp.html}}</ref>

The bulk of Reggio's cinematic records, manuscripts, papers, photographs, film rolls, over forty years, have been acquired by [[Harvard University|Harvard University's]] [[Houghton Library]], and the [[Harvard Film Archive]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harvard Film Archive/Godfrey-Reggio |date=September 21, 2019 |url=https://harvardfilmarchive.org/programs/godfrey-reggio}}</ref>

His work continues with the Godfrey Reggio Foundation, which his wife Marti started in 2024. <ref>{{Cite web |title=GODFREY REGGIO FOUNDATION |url=https://www.godfreyreggiofoundation.org/ |access-date=October 30, 2024 |website=GODFREY REGGIO FOUNDATION |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Influences ===
In an interview with ''Revus et Corriges,'' Reggio stated that he was particularly influenced by the work of experimental filmmakers such as [[Stan Brakhage]] and [[Maya Deren]]. Like these filmmakers, Reggio uses film as a medium for exploring the boundaries of perception and consciousness, using the camera as a tool for capturing the unseen and the intangible.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hyaumet |first=Alexis |date=December 31, 2017 |title=Interview with Godfrey Reggio |url=https://revusetcorriges.com/2018/01/01/interview-with-godfrey-reggio/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |website=Revus & Corrigés |language=fr-FR}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Since the 1960s, Reggio has lived in [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]].<ref name="AJ" />

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Year
!Name
!Director
!Writer
!Producer
!Notes
|-
|1982
|''[[Koyaanisqatsi]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|First film in the [[Qatsi trilogy|''Qatsi'' trilogy]]
|-
|1988
|''[[Powaqqatsi]]'' 
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|Second film in the ''Qatsi'' trilogy
|-
|1989
|"Patricia's Park"
|{{yes}}
|
|
|[[Music video]] for [[Alphaville (band)|Alphaville]]; released on ''[[Songlines (Alphaville video)|Songlines]]'' compilation
|-
|1991
|''[[Anima Mundi (film)|Anima Mundi]]'' 
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|Short film
|-
|1992
|''Fated to Be Queer'' 
|
|
|{{yes}}
|Short film
|-
|1995
|''Evidence'' 
|{{yes}}
|
|
|Short film
|-
|1995
|''The Many Adventures of Diecast'' 
|{{yes}}
|
|
|Short film
|-
|2002
|''[[Naqoyqatsi]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|Third film in the ''Qatsi'' trilogy
|-
|2013
|''[[Visitors (2013 film)|Visitors]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|
|-
|2018
|''Awaken''
|
|
|{{Yes|Executive}}
|
|-
|2023
|''[[Once Within a Time]]''
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|{{yes}}
|Short film
|}

==See also==
* ''[[The City (1939 film)|The City]]'' (1939)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikiquote}}
*{{official|https://www.godfreyreggiofoundation.org/}}
*{{IMDb name|0716585}}

{{Godfrey Reggio}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reggio, Godfrey}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:American documentary film directors]]
[[Category:American experimental filmmakers]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American people of French descent]]
[[Category:American writers of Italian descent]]
[[Category:Artists from New Orleans]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Writers from New Orleans]]
[[Category:Writers from Santa Fe, New Mexico]]