It is with a heavy heart that we write of the passing of documentary filmmaker extraordinaire Julia Reichert, after a lengthy journey with cancer. She was a member of the Independent Lens family for many years. Most recently, Julia and her life and filmmaking partner Steve Bognar collaborated on the Independent Lens films 9to5: The Story of a Movement, which used Julia’s favored direct cinema approach for the previously untold story of the fight that inspired the Dolly Parton hit song and movie, changing the American workplace, and the 4-hour A Lion in the House, which took eight years to complete and won a Primetime Emmy Award. It is the story of five exceptional children and their families in Cincinnati after they are diagnosed with pediatric cancer.
About Julia, Independent Lens Executive Producer Lois Vossen says:
“Julia and Steve’s passion for their characters was equal to their desire that the series reveal the inequalities in our country’s healthcare systems. It was at our Sundance premiere that Julia received the news of her first cancer diagnosis. It wasn’t surprising that Julia’s biggest concern was how this would impact the families in LITH who had traveled to Utah for our festival launch. I was fortunate to work with Julia and Steve again on 9to5: The Story of a Movement. Like many of Julia’s films, it’s a celebration of everyday people fighting for worker’s rights and economic equality.”
A native of New Jersey, Julia was a longtime resident of Ohio, frequently the subject and location of her work. With Steve, Julia won the Oscar in 2020 for American Factory, about the reopening of a shuttered auto factory in Moraine, Ohio. Julia’s first film, Growing Up Female (1971), which explored the socialization of young American women and girls and the effects of stereotypes placed by media, advertising, and personal relationships, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2011.
Read our interview with Julia and Steve for Independent Lens.
How to introduce your feminist documentary without #mansplaining, as told by the filmmakers of 9to5: The Story of a Movement, Julia Reichert & Steven Bognar. 💪
Watch #9to5PBS starting tonight, February 1 at 10pm on @PBS and the PBS Video app! pic.twitter.com/vD09ClfArk— Independent Lens (@IndependentLens) February 2, 2021
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