Nationality American Education Harvard University Role Film cinematographer | Name Kevin Rafferty Known for Documentary films Siblings Pierce Rafferty | |
 | ||
Born 1948 New York Occupation Cinematographer
Film director
Film producer Books City on the rocks, Inside Japan's power houses, The atomic cafe Nominations BAFTA Award for Best Documentary Movies The Atomic Cafe, Harvard Beats Yale 29‑29, Blood in the Face, Roger & Me, Radio Bikini Similar People Jayne Loader, Pierce Rafferty, Brian Dowling, James Ridgeway, Robert Stone | ||
Kevin Rafferty is an American documentary film cinematographer, director, and producer, best known for his 1982 documentary The Atomic Cafe.
Contents
Background
Rafferty studied architecture at Harvard and film at the California Institute of the Arts. He helped teach the craft of filmmaking to Michael Moore during the production of Roger & Me in 1989, and Moore has acknowledged Rafferty's influence on his own filmmaking. Rafferty teamed up with his brother Pierce and Jayne Loader to produce the cult classic documentary film The Atomic Cafe. He is the director, producer, editor and cinematographer of many documentary projects, including Blood in the Face, The War Room, Feed, and The Last Cigarette. His latest project is Harvard Beats Yale 29-29.
Rafferty is a nephew of US former First Lady Barbara Bush, and a cousin of former US President George W. Bush.
As director or producer
As cinematographer
As himself
Reception
Thom Powers of Harvardwood writes that Rafferty is "renowned for his wit and fresh perspectives on American culture". His various films have received positive reception. Of Hurry Tomorrow, Rafferty's documentary indictment of a California State psychiatric hospital, Colin Bennet of The Age wrote "Its anger and courage are the kind that lead to reform". St. Petersberg Times film critic Tom Sabulis wrote of The Atomic Cafe that it was "a stunning compilation of U.S. government propaganda of the 40s and 50s" whose "impact is both nostalgic and frightening".
Michael Atkinson of IFC calls Rafferty's latest, Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, "a hypnotic pleasure," and Fast Company calls it an "engrossing documentary" which was "the best sports film we've seen in years", and Manhola Dargis of New York Times writes "while it seems absurd to include such a picayune event in the annals, the filmmaker Kevin Rafferty makes the case for remembrance and for the art of the story in his preposterously entertaining documentary Harvard Beats Yale 29-29".