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- Director
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Director/writer Bobby Houston is a California-based filmmaker whose
most recent documentary, Mighty Times: The Children's March (2004), won the Academy Award in March 2005.
His previous film, Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks (2002), was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003
and won an Emmy. Both films were produced by HBO and the Southern
Poverty Law Center.
Bobby's filmmaking career began after graduating from Harvard. First he
starred in Wes Craven's cult classic The Hills Have Eyes (1977) (remade in 2006). He then
made his directorial debut with the samurai epic Shogun Assassin (1980), a clever
reworking of a Japanese film. It was initially banned upon release, but
found its way to screens worldwide and unexpectedly crossed over into
hip-hop culture as the audio "bed" for Wu-Tang Clan. In 2003 Quentin Tarantino gave
the film a nod when he utilized it as the coda to Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004).
In the 1980s Bobby wrote and directed two independent features, the
raucous teen comedy _Growing Pains (1984/I)_ (Touchstone) starring
starred Martin Mull and Karen Black, and Trust Me (1989) (Cinecom), a black comedy
about murder in the art world which premiered at the Sundance Film
Festival.
Bobby's partner died of AIDS in 1995. In response, he turned away from
a series of studio and network assignments, finding a stronger outlet
in documentary films. Rock the Boat (1998) (HBO), his debut documentary, is a
rousing verite adventure that chronicles the efforts of an HIV-positive
crew that enters an extreme sailing race across the Pacific Ocean. The
sailors manage to survive and even place well, in spite of a leaky boat
and a hurricane -- while confronting their lives, loves and losses.
"Rock The Boat" became an international festival favorite, was
short-listed for an Academy Award and is still being broadcast today.
Several prestigious documentaries soon followed, culminating in the
"Mighty Times" series, which has won (among others) an Oscar, an Emmy
and the IDA Award.
Bobby is currently prepping a new feature, "Be A Man," in part as a
response to the election of 2004 and, as always, as a means of speaking
truth to power. Bobby's motto is still the same: "Debunk, and
inspire."