Julia Reichert (I)

Julia Reichert has been called a godmother of the American independent film movement and is a three time Oscar nominee. Her film GROWING UP FEMALE was the first feature documentary of the modern Women's Movement. It was recently chosen for inclusion on the National Film Registry.

Her films UNION MAIDS and SEEING RED (with Jim Klein) were both nominated for Academy Awards for Best Feature Documentary, as was THE LAST TRUCK, as a short. Her film A LION IN THE HOUSE (with Steven Bognar) premiered at Sundance, screened nationally on PBS, was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award, and won the Primetime Emmy for "Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking". She co-wrote and directed the feature film EMMA AND ELVIS, produced the feature THE DREAM CATCHER directed by Ed Radtke.

Her recent film, SPARKLE (with Steven Bognar) won the Audience Award for Best Short at Silverdocs 2012, and was broadcast on national PBS.

She recently delved into the world of web-based interactive projects, co-creating an interactive non-fiction site, REINVENTION STORIES, about how citizens of Dayton, Ohio are recovering from the economic downturn. Reinventionstories.org

Reichert's current projects include a lively history of 9to5, an organization that brought rights, respect and raises to white collar workers. 9to5 is a little known intersection of the women's movement and the labor movement. It brought awareness of ideas such as the glass ceiling, sexual harassment, equal pay for equal work and the Family Medical Leave Act.

Julia is co-founder of New Day Films, the social issue film distribution co-op, which is now 42 years old. She is author of "Doing It Yourself," the first book on self-distribution in independent film, and articles for The Independent, a publication of AIVF. Reichert is Professor of Motion Pictures at Wright State University in Ohio, a graduate of Antioch College, and a grandma.

She is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and a member of the advisory board of the Independent Feature Project.