Biographie
Abby Ginzberg, a Peabody Award-winning director, has been creating impactful documentaries on race and social justice for more than 30 years. Her 2017 film, And Then They Came for Us, featuring George Takei, explores the link between the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans and the current Muslim travel ban. This film earned a Silver Gavel Award and has been screened in major cities, film festivals nationwide, and in Japan. Over the past year, she has presented it to college audiences, community groups, and theatergoers.
Ginzberg co-produced and co-directed Agents of Change (2016) with Frank Dawson, featuring Danny Glover. The film debuted at the Pan African Film Festival, winning both the Jury and Audience Awards for Best Feature Documentary, as well as a Paul Robeson Award from the Newark Black Film Festival. Supported by California Humanities, it aired on America ReFramed in 2018 and 2019. Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa, executive produced by Alfre Woodard and featuring Archbishop Desmond Tutu and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, won a 2015 Peabody Award and received four audience awards at international film festivals. It was broadcast on public television in July 2016. Ginzberg served as Consulting Producer on The Barber of Birmingham, which premiered at Sundance in 2011 and was nominated for an Oscar® in the Short Documentary category in 2012. The film was directed by Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin.
She has also produced and directed two acclaimed films about lesser-known California judges. Soul of Justice: Thelton Henderson's American Journey (2005) profiles one of the first African American federal judges in San Francisco. Cruz Reynoso: Sowing the Seeds of Justice tells the story of a farmworker’s son who became the first Latino appointed to the California Supreme Court.
Ginzberg’s film Waging Change, featuring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, addresses the struggles of restaurant servers dependent on tips and is set to premiere at DOC NYC in November 2019.
Currently, Ginzberg is finishing Stay Woke: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me, featuring Danny Glover, Alice Walker, Van Jones, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rep. John Lewis. This documentary highlights Rep. Barbara Lee, who cast the sole NO vote in Congress against the post-9/11 military authorization and has spent 21 years advocating for peace and justice in Congress.
