Films by Filmmaker

Heather Courtney

Heather Courtney won the 2012 Independent Spirit Truer Than Fiction Award for her film WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM. In addition to the Independent Spirit Award, WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM has won awards at festivals around the country, including a Jury Award for Editing at the SXSW Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature at the Philadelphia Film Festival, and the Founders Award for Best U.S. Documentary at the Traverse City Film Festival. The film received rave reviews in The New York Times, The Washington Post and others during its theatrical release in Fall 2011, and was broadcast nationally on the PBS program POV. It made several “Top 10 Films of 2011” lists, including Salon and the Austin American-Statesman.

The film was supported by many grants and fellowships during its production including ITVS, the Sundance Documentary Fund, and the United States Artists Fellowship. She was also a fellow at the Sundance Edit and Story Lab.

Prior to WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM, Heather Courtney directed and produced several documentary films including award-winners LETTERS FROM THE OTHER SIDE (which was supported by a Fulbright) and LOS TRABAJADORES, and was a co-director on Roger Weisberg's documentary CRITICAL CONDITION.  LETTERS FROM THE OTHER SIDE was the Closing Night film at the Slamdance Film Festival in January 2006, and was broadcast on over 60 PBS stations. LOS TRABAJADORES won the Audience Award at SXSW and the International Documentary Association David Wolper award, and was broadcast nationally on the PBS series Independent Lens.

Prior to receiving her MFA in Film Production, Heather spent eight years writing and photographing for the United Nations and several refugee and immigrant rights organizations, including in the Rwandan refugee camps after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Heather is from the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and is proud to call herself a Yooper.