Kim A. Snyder

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Kim A. Snyder is an award-winning American filmmaker and producer. Previously, she spent some time contributing to Variety.[1]

Snyder made her directorial debut with the 2000 documentary, I Remember Me, a biographical film chronicling her struggles with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).[2] In 2016, Snyder was nominated at Sundance Film Festival in Grand Jury Prize-Documentary for Newtown.[3]

She currently resides in New York City.[4]

Life and career

Snyder received a bachelor's from George Washington University in 1983[5] and a master's in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in 1986.[6] Upon completion of her masters, Snyder worked in international trade. She became involved in filmmaking as an international film consultant and U.S. Producer's Representative in Europe in the early 1990s.[7]

She is an advocate for the use of film as a medium to promote social change. As a co-founder of the the BeCause Foundation, which aims to better the lives of children, Snyder produced three short films—Alone No Love, One Bridge to the Next and Crossing Midnight—to raise awareness on issues of child sexual abuse, healthcare, homelessness and refugee integration.[8] Previously, Snyder also served on the admissions committee for the Graduate Film Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.[9]

Directing and Producing

Snyder credits curiosity for her start in filmmaking. Following some time representing films in Eastern Europe, she broke the production side of the indie film industry.[7]

Snyder worked as an associate producer for the 1994 Oscar-winning short film Trevor, which tells the story of suicidal gay teenager. Trevor was later picked up by HBO, and Ellen Degeneres hosted the airing. The directors of the film, Randy Stone and Peggy Rajski, realized the need for young people to have a safe way to discuss their feelings about sexuality, and thus in 1998 created the Trevor Lifeline (now the Trevor Project). The Trevor Lifeline became "the first national crisis intervention and suicide prevention lifeline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth."[10] Trevor won the 1995 Academy Award for Best Action Live Short.[11]

I Remember Me

While working as an assistant for production on Jodie Foster's film Home for the Holidays (1995), Snyder became ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), a debilitating and complex disorder characterized by intense fatigue.[2][12] I Remember Me (2000) became Snyder's biographical documentary debut She directed, produced, wrote and appeared in the film. It explored the history of and controversy behind CFS.

Shorts

In 2008, Snyder expanded on her philanthropic efforts by working with the non-profit BeCause Foundation to direct and produce the short films Alone No Love, One Bridge to the Next and Crossing Midnight.

Alone No Love (2007) is a 27-minute film that addresses the issues Chicago doctors, state's attorneys, police officers and social workers face when working on cases involving sexually abuse children.[13]

With a portion of America's homeless out of sight and out of mind for some, Snyder took the initiative to create her short One Bridge to the Next (2008). Most of the film narrows in on Operation Safety Net, an organization that delivers healthcare to the homeless from bridge ways to alleyways.[14]

The last in the series of shorts Snyder directed and produced for the BeCause Foundation was Crossing Midnight (2009), which documents the struggles of Burmas refugees and those who come to their rescue.[15]

Snyder directed and produced the short film Duke Riley Goes to China, which premiered at the Palm Springs International ShortFest in 2015. The film chronicles the journey of Brooklyn artist Duke Riley, who embarks on recreating the race of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals.[16]

Feature-Length Films

Welcome to Shelbyville

Welcome to Shelbyville (2011), another project done in corporation with the BeCause Foundation, was selected as Gucci-Tribeca Documentary Fund grant recipient. It aired on PBS' Independent Lens. Snyder's Welcome to Shelbyville documents the intersection of race and religion in America's Heartland.[17]

Newtown

Showing the people and lives most affected by the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012, Snyder's Newtown made its debut at the 2016 Full Frame Film Festival. Filmed over three years, the film focuses on the devastated community of Newtown, Connecticut in the aftermath of tragedy.[18]

On the film, IndieWire blogger Katie Walsh wrote:

"This film is an important historical record, and an important reminder of an event in American history that could have changed everything, that should have changed everything. There's no reason why it still can't. "Newtown" is a crucial reminder of that." [19]

Jordan Raup of The Film Stage commented:

"Each conversation, whether it be with families of those who lost children or the first responders at Sandy Hook Elementary School, is attuned to their internal grappling with the unfathomable loss.[20]

Newtown was nominated for the Sundance Grand July Prize in Documentary and for Best Documentary at the Cleveland International Film Festival.

Nominations and Awards

Nominations

Cleveland International Film Festival, Best Documentary, Newtown (2016)
Sundance Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize-Documentary, Newtown (2016)

Awards

Denver Film Festival, Best Documentary Film/Video, I Remember Me (2000)
Hamptons Film Festival, Honorable Mention, I Remember Me
Sarasota Film Festival, First Runner Up, I Remember Me
Taos Film Festival, Land Grant Finalist
Aspen Shortsfest, Audience Award, One Bridge to the Next (2008)
[21]

Filmography

Director

Newtown (2016)
Duke Riley Goes to China (2015)
Independent Lens (2011)
Welcome to Shelbyville (2011)
One Bridge to the Next (2008)
Crossing Midnight (2009)
Alone No Love (2007)
I Remember Me (2000)

Producer

Duke Riley Goes to China (2015)
Independent Lens (2011)
Welcome to Shelbyville (2011)
Alone No Love (2007)
Crossing Midnight (2009)
One Bridge to the Next (2008)
I Remember Me (2000)
Trevor (1994)

References

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