Prolific filmmaker, documentarian, commercial director, and UW-Madison alumnus Errol Morris(History, ’69) recently appeared at numerous signature campus events as part of the university’sYear of the Arts celebration. On Thursday, October 21st, Morris taped an appearence on Wisconsin Reflections, a Big Ten Network interview series for UW-Madison alumni & friends. Later that night, he spoke in the Wisconsin Union Directorate’s Distinguished Lecture Series. A crowded Wisconsin Union Theater audience listened to Morris discuss filmmaking, politics, and the search for truth in documentaries. On Friday, October 22nd, Morris discussed a wide range of topics regarding documentary in a round table discussion hosted by the Department of Communication Arts. He then presented his latest film Tabloid in a special premiere at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
For more than 30 years, Errol Morris has directed nine documentary features, over 1,000 television commercials, and several short films and a television series. His works have won many awards, including:
- Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature forThe Fog of War (2004)
- Emmy for Best Commercial for PBS commercial “Photobooth” (2001)
- Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for Standard Operating Proceedure (1998)
- Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for A Brief History of Time (1992)
- Golden Horse at the Tiawan International Film Festival for The Thin Blue Line (1988)
His documentaries have repeatedly appeared on many ten best lists and have been honored by the National Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review. In 2003The Guardian ranked him seventh in its list of the world’s 40 best directors. He is also a regular contributor to The New York Times website, writing on issues in photography.