Lecturer Profile

Rory Kennedy is one of America’s most prolific documentary filmmakers. An Academy Award-nominated, Primetime Emmy Award-winning director/producer, Kennedy’s work deals with some of the world’s most pressing issues—poverty, political corruption, domestic abuse, drug addiction, human rights and mental illness. Kennedy has made more than 30 highly acclaimed documentaries. Most recently, Kennedy completed “Take Every Wave,” a feature documentary about the life of legendary big wave surfer Laird Hamilton, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017. 

A graduate of Brown, she majored in women’s studies. Along with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus, she is co-founder of Moxie Firecracker Film in New York and Los Angeles. Kennedy is also a governor of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.