GUGGENHEIM SYMPOSIUM Conversations

Each year, the AFI DOCS Charles Guggenheim Symposium honors a master of documentary film. AFI is proud to recognize the exceptional career of filmmaker Freida Lee Mock as the 2019 Guggenheim honoree.

Demonstrating a remarkable range of subject matter, Freida Lee Mock has, for more than three decades, been one of America’s greatest cinematic biographers. From MAYA LIN: A STRONG CLEAR VISION (1994) and NEVER GIVE UP: THE 20TH CENTURY ODYSSEY OF HERBERT ZIPPER (1995) to WRESTLING WITH ANGELS: PLAYWRIGHT TONY KUSHNER (2006) and ANITA: SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER (2013), Mock has shown the uncanny ability to take intimate biographical detail and build larger-than-life narratives that reflect and illuminate the broader societal picture. For her extraordinary work, Mock received the 1995 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature and five total nominations; and a primetime Emmy® Award win from two nominations.

The 2019 Guggenheim Symposium will pay tribute to this outstanding filmmaker with an onstage interview discussion of her career, film clips and the world premiere of her fascinating new portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, RUTH – JUSTICE GINSBURG IN HER OWN WORDS.