Katia Forbert Petersen
Polish-Danish filmmaker (b. 1949)
Katia Forbert Petersen (born 6 February 1949) is a Polish-Danish cinematographer, film director, producer, and writer, known for her work on the Danish-language films En fremmed piges dagbog (1989), Behind the Mountains (2004), and My Iranian Paradise (2008), among others.
Petersen has been involved in approximately 150 documentary and feature films over her career, and has done work for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen in Germany and the National Film Board of Canada.
Career
The daughter of Polish engineer and cinematographer Wladyslaw Forbert, Petersen spent her early career studying cinematography at the National Film School in Łódź, Poland. In response to the mounting anti-Semitic political crisis in Poland, Petersen emigrated to Denmark, where she held dual citizenship, after receiving her degree in 1969.
Petersen joined the Danish Film Institute in 1973. Soon after, she managed cinematography for three feminist feature films: the Danish film Take It Like a Man, Madam (1975), and two German films: The Power of Men is the Patience of Women (1978) and Redupers: The All-Round Reduced Personality (1978). Since then, she has filmed and directed numerous feature and documentary productions in Denmark and abroad.
Petersen is a frequent collaborator of fellow Danish women directors Annette Mari Olsen and Mette Knudsen. In 1988, Petersen and Olsen founded the production company Sfinx Film/TV, through which the duo continues to produce films together.
Filmography
Awards
Bronze Medal, New York Television Festival, 1990 for A Wanted Child
Gold Medal, Prix National, Festival de la Commission des Communauts Europennes, 1990 for A Pig after My Own Heart
Special Commendation Non-fiction, Television Programme of the Year, Prix Europa, 1991 for Madsen's Hotel
Special Commendation for Serials and Documentary Miniseries, Prix Europa, 1992 for You Have to be Round to Live in a Globe
Danish Association of Cinematographers Annual Award, 1992
Best Director, European Youth Film Festival, Antwerp, 1997
Grand Prix, ITVA-Festival, Copenhagen, 1997 for Two Women on a River
Special Prize for Best Television Documentary, Prix Europa, 1997 for They Don't Burn Priests, Do They?
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