Eric Daniel Metzgar
Encyclopedia
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
-based filmmaker. His debut film, a 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...
entitled The Chances of the World Changing
The Chances of the World Changing
The Chances of the World Changing is a 2007 Independent Spirit Award-nominated documentary about Richard Ogust's efforts to save endangered turtle species from extinction. It was directed and produced by Eric Daniel Metzgar and produced by Nell Carden Grey...
, which he directed, produced, shot and edited, premiered at the 2006 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. Each spring Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic downtown Durham, North Carolina for a four-day, morning to midnight...
. The Chances of the World Changing screened at film festivals, won several awards and was nominated for a 2007 Independent Spirit Award in the "Axium Truer than Fiction" category. It also aired on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
as part of the P.O.V.
P.O.V.
POV is a Public Broadcasting Service Public television series which features independent nonfiction films. POV is a cinema term for "point of view"....
series in 2007.
Metzgar's second documentary film, Life. Support. Music.
Life. Support. Music.
Life. Support. Music. is a 2009 documentary film and is Eric Daniel Metzgar's second documentary. It premiered at the 2008 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina.-Background:...
, premiered at the 2008 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. Each spring Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic downtown Durham, North Carolina for a four-day, morning to midnight...
. Life. Support. Music. tells the story of Jason Crigler, a successful New York-based guitarist who in 2004 suffered a devastating brain injury. This film features interviews with Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
, Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw
Marshall Crenshaw is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist best known for his song "Someday, Someway".-Biography:...
, Teddy Thompson
Teddy Thompson
Teddy Thompson is a British folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk-rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson...
and others. Life. Support. Music. won the Audience Choice award at the 2008 Independent Film Festival of Boston
Independent Film Festival of Boston
The Independent Film Festival of Boston is a not for profit film festival in Boston, Massachusetts.- History :The Independent Film Festival of Boston was created in 2003 by the non-profit organization the Independent Film Society of Boston. The festival takes place each April in the Boston area's...
.
Also in 2008, Metzgar completed a short first-person documentary titled Beholder, as part of the International Documentary Challenge. The film won the Documentary Challenge's "Original Vision Award," and also won "Best Writing" and "Best Use of First Person."
In January 2009, Metzgar's documentary titled Reporter premiered 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...
. It chronicles New York Times journalist Nick Kristof's 2007 voyage to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. The film includes interviews with Congolese rebel leader Laurent Nkunda
Laurent Nkunda
Laurent Nkunda or Laurent Nkundabatware, or Laurent Nkunda Batware, or as he prefers to be called The Chairman — is a former General in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo and is the former warlord operating in the province of Nord-Kivu, sympathetic to Congolese Tutsis and the...
and other key players in the Congolese power struggle. Reporter was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in the category of "Outstanding Informational Programming - Long Form."
Metzgar edited and executive produced Give Up Tomorrow , directed by Michael Collins and produced by Marty Syjuco. Give Up Tomorrow won the Audience Choice Award at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
. It also won a Special Jury Prize at the festival for Best New Director. The film also won the Audience Choice Award at the 2011 Sheffield Doc/Fest.