Pietra Brettkelly
Pietra Brettkelly is a New Zealand documentary filmmaker known for intimate, quiet portraits of people from around the world. Born in 1965 in Whakatāne, she did not go to film school and began as a journalist before making her first documentary, Beauty Will Save the World (2003). Her films explore themes of identity and isolation, and she uses close-up imagery to reveal real lives without judgment. She writes scenes before filming but doesn’t stick to a script when shooting.
Her work has appeared at major festivals including Sundance, Toronto, Venice, Berlin, and Tribeca, and has won many awards. A Flickering Truth (2015) uncovers Afghanistan’s Film Archive and premiered at Venice and Toronto, earning strong praise. Yellow Is Forbidden (2018) follows Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei and competed for Oscars’ Best Foreign Language and Best Documentary categories at Tribeca, receiving recognition for its intimate look at fashion, craft, and ambition. Brettkelly has been nominated for Oscar consideration three times and is a member of the Academy. She was named an Arts Laureate of New Zealand.
Her career has taken her to many countries, and she continues to tell stories that matter, focusing on personal journeys within larger cultural issues.
Selected works: Beauty Will Save the World (2003); Māori Boy Genius (2012); A Flickering Truth (2015); Yellow Is Forbidden (2018).
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:35 (CET).