Godfrey Reggio is an American
directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
of experimental
documentary filmDocumentary 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...
s.
Life
Born and raised in New Orleans,
LouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Reggio co-founded La Clinica de la Gente, a facility that provided medical care to 12,000 community members in
Santa FeSanta Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, and La Gente, a community-organizing project in
Northern New MexicoNorthern New Mexico may simply mean the northern part of New Mexico, but in cultural terms it usually means the area of heavy Spanish settlement in the north-central part....
's
barrioBarrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
s. In 1963 he co-founded Young Citizens for Action, a community organization project that aided juveniles among the street gangs in Santa Fe. In 1972, he co-founded the Institute for Regional Education in Santa Fe, a non-profit foundation focused on media development, the arts, community organization, and research.
Reggio has been involved in many progressive political causes in the United States, including work for the
American Civil Liberties UnionThe American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
, co-organizing a multi-media public interest campaign on the invasion of privacy and the use of technology to control behavior. Reggio resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is currently focusing on a narrative-based film exploring the negative impacts of consumerism and fundamentalism on the world. Godfrey Reggio participated in the
Stock Exchange of VisionsThe Stock Exchange of Visions is a project initiated in 2006 by Fabrica, Benetton's research center. It gathers visionaries from diverse nationalities and cultures, who hail from a wide range of specialties, to provide insight into their vision for the future....
project in 2006.
Reggio is most known for his
QatsiThe Qatsi trilogy is the informal name given to a series of three films produced by Godfrey Reggio and scored by Philip Glass:* Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of balance * Powaqqatsi: Life in transformation * Naqoyqatsi: Life as war...
trilogy, which includes the films
KoyaanisqatsiKoyaanisqatsi also known as Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke....
,
PowaqqatsiPowaqqatsi , or Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation, is the 1988 sequel to the experimental 1982 documentary film Koyaanisqatsi, by Godfrey Reggio. It is the second film in the Qatsi trilogy....
, and
NaqoyqatsiNaqoyqatsi , also known as Naqoyqatsi: Life as War, is a 2002 documentary film directed by Godfrey Reggio and edited by Jon Kane, with music composed by Philip Glass. It is the third and final film in the Qatsi trilogy....
. All of the film titles are taken from the
Hopi languageHopi is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Hopi people of northeastern Arizona, USA, although today some Hopi are monolingual English speakers.The use of the language has gradually declined over the course of the 20th century...
; Koyaanisqatsi meaning "life out of balance," Powaqqatsi meaning "life in transformation," and
NaqoyqatsiNaqoyqatsi , also known as Naqoyqatsi: Life as War, is a 2002 documentary film directed by Godfrey Reggio and edited by Jon Kane, with music composed by Philip Glass. It is the third and final film in the Qatsi trilogy....
meaning "life as war." In 1995 he directed the short feature entitled
Evidence that featured, like the
Qatsi TrilogyThe Qatsi trilogy is the informal name given to a series of three films produced by Godfrey Reggio and scored by Philip Glass:* Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of balance * Powaqqatsi: Life in transformation * Naqoyqatsi: Life as war...
, a soundtrack composed by his friend
Philip GlassPhilip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
. Also, he has directed a documentary
Anima MundiAnima Mundi is a 1991 short documentary film directed by Godfrey Reggio. The film focuses on the world of nature and wildlife, particularly jungles, sealife, and insects...
. Reggio spent fourteen years in fasting, silence and prayer, training to be a monk within the
Congregation of Christian BrothersThe Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
, a Roman Catholic pontifical order, before abandoning that path and making the films.
Filmography
- Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi also known as Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke....
(1982) aka: Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance
- Powaqqatsi
Powaqqatsi , or Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation, is the 1988 sequel to the experimental 1982 documentary film Koyaanisqatsi, by Godfrey Reggio. It is the second film in the Qatsi trilogy....
(1988) aka: Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation
- Songlines
Songlines is a video released by the German band Alphaville in 1990, created during the production of Alphaville's 1989 album The Breathtaking Blue...
(1989)
- Anima Mundi
Anima Mundi is a 1991 short documentary film directed by Godfrey Reggio. The film focuses on the world of nature and wildlife, particularly jungles, sealife, and insects...
(1992) aka: The Soul of the World
- Evidence (1995)
- Naqoyqatsi
Naqoyqatsi , also known as Naqoyqatsi: Life as War, is a 2002 documentary film directed by Godfrey Reggio and edited by Jon Kane, with music composed by Philip Glass. It is the third and final film in the Qatsi trilogy....
(2002) aka: Naqoyqatsi: Life as War
External links