Robbie Leppzer

Robbie Leppzer is an award-winning independent documentary film director, digital film editor, cinematographer, and location sound recordist, who has directed over thirty television and public radio documentaries over the past forty years. His critically acclaimed feature-length and short documentaries, as well as commissioned television news magazine segments, about contemporary social issues, grassroots activism and multicultural themes, have been broadcast by CNN International, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, HBO/Cinemax, PBS, CNN, Sundance Channel, HDNet, Black Entertainment Television, Link TV, Free Speech TV, Vermont PBS, National Public Radio, and Pacifica Radio.  Since 1985, Leppzer has been director of Turning Tide Films, an independent documentary film production company, previously located in Wendell, Massachusetts, now located in North Bennington, Vermont. For more information, visit: www.TurningTide.com

From the environmental protests of the mid-1970s, to the growing social justice, environmental and global peace movements of the new millennium, I have chronicled grassroots social movements over the last four decades. I film stories of people who stick their necks out to take risks for grassroots social change and build bridges across cultures.

Advanced Documentary Production and Advanced Digital Cinematography.

INDIGENOUS VOICES: STORIES FROM THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY
(10 short videos from 5 to 16 minutes, color 4K video, 2022)
A portrait of Native life past and present in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. Produced with Jennifer Lee (Northern Narragansett) as an educational resource for public schools in collaboration with the Nolumbeka Project, dedicated to the preservation of the history and contemporary life of Native Americans in New England.
https://nolumbekaproject.org/indigenous-voices/

POWER STRUGGLE
(86 minutes, color HD video, 2019)
A chronicle of a successful grassroots citizens’ effort to shut down a problem-plagued nuclear power plant in Vermont. Produced in association with NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). A 50-minute Japanese version was co-produced and broadcast nationally by NHK in Japan. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV and Link TV. Regionally broadcast on Vermont PBS.
https://www.powerstrugglemovie.com

HDNET WORLD REPORT
(various 13 - 45 minute segments, color HD video, 2007-08)
Produced numerous segments for HDNet WORLD REPORT, a weekly hour-long newsmagazine program. Reports include SOLDIER STORIES, a 45-minute feature segment about U.S. combat veterans who served in Iraq; and CRISIS IN NEW ORLEANS, a four-part series (totaling 56 minutes), an exposé about the crisis of public housing and homelessness and its devastating impact on the African-American community in post- Katrina New Orleans. Nationally broadcast on HDNet.

IRMA’S JOURNEY
(9 minutes, color video, 2007)
A chronicle of a unique journey to Senegal, West Africa by African-American storyteller, Irma Gardner- Hammond, who along with her 17-year-old son, Earl, make an emotional re-connection with their African roots. Nationally broadcast on Black Entertainment Television.

THE PEACE PATRIOTS
(78 minutes, color video, 2005) [Remastered HD version released in 2020.]
An intimate portrait of American dissenters reflecting on their personal participation as engaged citizens in a time of war. The film follows a diverse group of individuals, ranging in age from 14 to 75, including teenagers, college students, war veterans, teachers, clergy, and community activists, as they take part in vigils, marches, theater performances, and civil disobedience sit-ins to protest the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. https://www.turningtide.com/the-peace-patriots

AN ACT OF CONSCIENCE
(90 minutes, color video, 1997) [Remastered HD version released in 2020.]
Filmed in a cinema-verité style over a five-year period, this feature-length documentary chronicles the story of a family in western Massachusetts whose home was seized by federal marshals and IRS agents after they publicly refused to pay federal taxes as a protest against war and military spending. Narrated by Martin Sheen. Produced in association with HBO/Cinemax. World Premiere, 1997 Sundance Film Festival. Nationally broadcast on HBO/Cinemax, Sundance Channel, Link TV, and Free Speech TV. https://www.turningtide.com/an-act-of-conscience

COLUMBUS DIDN’T DISCOVER US
(24 minutes, color video, 1992) [Updated remastered HD version released in 2020.]
Indigenous people from North, South and Central America speak out about the impact of the Columbus legacy—past and present—on their lives. Produced in English and Spanish versions. Broadcast by WGBH (PBS, Boston, MA). Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. Excerpts nationally broadcast on PBS. https://www.turningtide.com/columbus-didnt-discover-us

HARVEST OF PEACE
(29 minutes, color 16mm, 1985) [Remastered HD version released in 2020.]
U.S. volunteers travel to a war zone in Nicaragua during the height of the U.S.-backed Contra war in the mid-1980s to harvest cotton in a unique citizen-to-citizen peace effort. Produced in English and Spanish versions. World premiere, 1985 Telluride Film Festival. Best Nonfiction Film, 1986 San Antonio Cine Festival. Curator’s Choice, 1987 New England Film Festival. Broadcast by WGBY-TV (PBS, Springfield, MA). Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. https://www.turningtide.com/harvest-of-peace

CHOOSE LIFE
(9 minutes, color 16mm, 1984) [Remastered HD version released in 2022.]
On June 12, 1982, over one-million people from all walks of life gathered in New York City to call for an end to the nuclear arms race. Presented in a fast-paced, up-beat style, CHOOSE LIFE captures the feeling and spirit of this historic day. Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. https://www.turningtide.com/choose-life

SEABROOK 1977
(87 minutes, b/w video, 1978) [Remastered HD version released in 2020.]
A chronicle of a seminal event of 1970s’ environmental activism when 1,414 people were arrested in a civil disobedience protest at a nuclear power plant under construction in Seabrook, New Hampshire and jailed en masse in National Guard armories for two weeks. Broadcast by WGBY-TV (PBS, Springfield, MA). Nationally broadcast on Free Speech TV. https://www.turningtide.com/seabrook-1977

BREAD & PUPPET: THEATER OF THE POSSIBLITARIANS
(86 minutes, to be released in 2024)
A portrait of the multicultural transnational Bread and Puppet Theater of Vermont, founded in New York City in the 1960s, and their iconoclastic 88-year-old director Peter Schumann, known for their epic-scale performances with giant papier-mâché puppets and empowering social justice themes.
www.BreadandPuppetMovie.com