LEO HURWITZ
A Pioneer In The Beginnings Of America’s Documentary Film Part 3
A Radical Filmmaker In The Making

Leo Hurwitz Radical Filmmaker in the Making

 “Leo Hurwitz’s task in life: creating and practicing the documentary film tied intrinsically to the quest for human freedom, liberation, equality, and truth.” Tom Hurwitz, Leo’s son. In 1926, Leo went to Harvard. This was quite an achievement for the Jewish son of working-class immigrants. Yet remarkably in line with the family’s intrinsic belief in, equality.…

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LEO HURWITZ
A Pioneer In The Beginnings Of America’s Documentary Film Part 2
Childhood Memories & Fantasies

Leo Hurwitz A Pioneer in America's Documentary Film Part 2 Childhood Memories & Fantasies

Memories and fantasies originating in childhood influence the course of a life as it unfolds. So do childhood experiences. That was true of Leo Hurwitz and his films. Leo’s strong creative spirit enabled these impressionable early times to find powerful forms of expression in his creative work. And, because of this, Leo’s films speak for…

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LEO HURWITZ
A Pioneer In The Beginnings Of
America’s Documentary Film Part 1
Leo Hurwitz’s Family Influences

Leo Hurwitz's Family Influences

Leo Hurwitz (1909 – 1991), a pioneer documentary filmmaker, was part of a small group who founded America’s documentary film. Notably, Leo and his colleagues invented the social documentary form. According to his son, Tom Hurwitz, Leo’s films “exemplified a new way of making films about the real world. And about ideas that help us…

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