Thomas F. Lennon has alternated between historical and contemporary subject matter. His work, broadcast on PBS and HBO, has been nominated three times for an Academy Award, winning once, and has received major television awards including two George Foster Peabody Awards, two national Emmys and two DuPont-Columbia Journalism awards. He co-directed the HBO film Unchained Memories, along with Ed Bell, based on readings from the WPA slave narratives. With filmmaker Ruby Yang, he mounted a vast multi-year AIDS prevention campaign seen over 900 million times on Chinese television. Together they made a trilogy of short documentary films about modern China, including The Blood of Yingzhou District, which won an Oscar in 2007, and The Warriors of Qiugang, nominated in 2011, which profiles an Anhui Province farmer's multi-year campaign to halt the poisoning of his village water by a nearby factory. Three weeks after the Oscar nomination, the local government of Bengbu, in Anhui, announced a 200 million yuan (US$30 million) clean-up of the toxic site shown in the film. "Sacred" (2016) explores the use of prayer and ritual in daily life. Morethan 40 filmmakers around the world contributed scenes to the film, which premiered at the Tokyo Film Festival and is due to be aired on PBS. In 2017, he completed a film about the hectic launch of Edwins, an haute cuisine French restaurant in Cleveland, staffed by men and women recently released from prison.
Lennon lives and works in New York City. He is married to the medical researcher Joan Reibman, best known for her work on the health of 9/11 survivors. He is at times confused with the writer-comedian Thomas Lennon and has twice had to send back large royalty checks.
Matthew perry doesn t know when thomas lennon is acting
Filmography
"Knife Skills" (2017) Winner Audience Award, Traverse City Film Festival.
″Sacred" Producer & Director. Shot by 40 filmmaking teams worldwide. Film Festivals: Hong Kong, DocNYC, Amsterdam (IDFA), Biarritz (FIPA), Sebastopol, etc. Due to air PBS 2018
″The Trail from Xingjiang" (2013) Senior Creative Consultant
"Angle of Attack" (2011) – writer, cinematographer, producer—Public Television
The Warriors of Qiugang (2010) – writer, producer. Oscar nominee, Documentary Short Subject
Tongzhi in Love (2008) – producer. Jury Prize, San Francisco Int'l Film Festival
The Supreme Court, PBS (2007) – director (International Documentary Association, Best Series, 2007; Silver Gavel Award, American Bar Association, 2008)
The Blood of Yingzhou District (2006) – producer (Academy Award winner – best documentary short subject; 2007 Excellence in Media Award – Global Health Council International Documentary Festival; Chicago Doc Humanitarian Award – Chicago International Documentary Film Festival; Golden Reel Jury Prize, Best Short – VC FilmFest; Grand Jury Award – AFI Silverdocs Film Festival; Audience Award – Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival; Jury Prize Award – Documenta International Film Festival; Jury Prize Award – RiverRun International Film Festival; Nominated for Documentary Awards at the Hawaii International Film Festival, The Fund for Santa Barbara, the International Documentary Association, and the DOCNZ Film Festival)
Terry Sanford & the New South (2006) – producer, director, writer (Full-Frame Documentary Festival (premiere))
Becoming American: The Chinese Experience, PBS mini-series (2003) – series producer, writer (Emmy nominations (four); Writes’ Guild nomination; IDA nomination; Christopher Award)
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives, HBO (2003) – producer, director (Sundance Film Festival (premiere), Emmy nominations (two); Christopher Award)
The Irish in America: Long Journey Home, PBS mini-series (1998) – series producer, director, writer (Emmy Award (four nominations) Writers’ Guild nomination, Grammy Award for soundtrack CD)
The Battle Over Citizen Kane, The American Experience (PBS, 1996) – producer, director, writer (Sundance Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, Academy Award nomination, George Foster Peabody Award, Writers' Guild Award)
The Battle of the Bulge, PBS The American Experience (1994) – producer, writer (duPont-Columbia Award; Emmy nominations (two))
