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Frank Popper Documentary Filmmaker

About Frank

My first job was teaching high school English, and I ran a noisy classroom right over the principal's office. One day he called me down: "It's too loud up there. I'm moving you to the other end of the building." It was a stroke of luck that he put me in the art department where I met a photography teacher. After school I'd hang out in the dark room where I watched his black & white negatives come to life in a tray of chemicals. His street photography taught me the concept of capturing the "decisive moment." Intoxicated with the idea of becoming a photographer, I quit teaching, started shooting pictures, and over time taught myself to make movies. Twenty-five plus years later I've been fortunate to travel the world making documentaries, exhibiting them at film festivals, winning some awards along the way, and teaching the art of filmmaking to young aspiring filmmakers.

Professional Highlights

CAN MR. SMITH GET TO WASHINGTON ANYMORE?

Producer, Director, Photographer, Editor

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National broadcast - PBS, Independent Lens
International broadcast - French television 
Short-List "Best Documentary Feature” - Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences  
Finalist, "Best Documentary of the Year“ - International Documentary Association 
"Audience Award" - American Film Institute Film Festival
“Special Jury Prize” - International Human Rights Film Festival of Paris 
"Best Documentary Feature" - Oxdox, London

GENTLEMEN OF VISION

Producer, Director, Photographer, Editor,

 

National broadcast - PBS, America Reframed
"Official Selection" - American Film Institute 
Documentary Film Festival
"Official Selection" - American Film Showcase - U.S. State Department cultural exchange in Kyrgyzstan & Colombia
"Special Jury Prize" - St. Louis International Film Festival

KYRGYZSTAN

Photographer

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Regional broadcast - PBS - U.S. State Department cultural exchange program

YOUTH VOICES ON IRAQ

Producer, Director, Photographer, Editor

 

National broadcast - PBS, Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria

HOMELAND

Editor

 

National broadcast - American Public Television

“Emmy,” regional series promo

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