Kurt Spenrath | |
---|---|
Born | |
Occupation | Filmmaker |
Employer | Open Sky Pictures |
Known for | Documentary films |
Kurt Spenrath is a Canadian award-winning filmmaker [1] [2] from Edmonton, Alberta. [3] He is best known for his work on documentaries, as both a producer and director.
Spenrath and his frequent collaborator Frederick Kroetsch have together created the company Open Sky Pictures which produces documentaries. [4] Spenrath has pursued several projects about controversial professional wrestler Teddy Hart of the Hart family, he at first filmed a reality television series about Hart named Hart Attack which never ended up airing due to complications regarding Hart. [5] Later he has attempted to film a documentary named Hart of Darkness which also ended up in limbo due to Hart's legal troubles in 2014. [6] As of the 2018 the film is in post production. [7] While the projects have not come to full fruition Spenrath did gain many connects in the professional wrestling industry due to his work on them, which lead him to making the documentaries The Match [8] about the Prairie Wrestling Alliance and Hart Still Beating which is about Teddy Hart's cousin Matt. [9]
Spenrath has also produced plays. [10]
Spenrath is a cat lover. [11]
Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Alberta Film and Television Awards | Best Documentary Under 30 Minutes | Hart Attack (television pilot) | Nominated | [12] |
2014 | Edmonton International Film Festival | Alberta Short Film Award (Documentary) | Through Ice and Time | Won | [13] |
2015 | Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival | Prizes for Best Pitch | Hart of Darkness | Won [lower-alpha 1] | [14] |
2015 | Alberta Film and Television Awards | Best Documentary Series | Invincible | Nominated | [15] |
2015 | Yorkton Film Festival | Emerging Filmmaker | The Match | Won | [16] |
2015 | Alberta Film and Television Awards | Best Director (Non-Fiction Under 30 Minutes) | The Match | Nominated | [17] |
2017 | Alberta Film and Television Awards | Best Documentary Under 30 Minutes | Beneath the Surface | Nominated | [18] |
2018 | Alberta Film and Television Awards | Best Production Reflecting Cultural Diversity | Last of the Fur Traders | Won | [19] [20] |
Stewart Edward Hart was a Canadian amateur and professional wrestler, wrestling booker, promoter, and coach. He is best known for founding and handling Stampede Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta, teaching many individuals at its associated wrestling school "The Dungeon" and establishing a professional wrestling dynasty consisting of his relatives and close trainees. As the patriarch of the Hart wrestling family, Hart is the ancestor of many wrestlers, most notably being the father of Bret and Owen Hart as well as the grandfather of Natalya Neidhart, Teddy Hart and David Hart Smith.
Edward Ellsworth Annis is a Canadian-American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Teddy Hart. He currently wrestles on the independent circuit. He wrestled on a National scale for Major League Wrestling (MLW) as the leader of The Hart Foundation, where he held the MLW World Middleweight and MLW Tag Team championships. He has also wrestled for AAA, the short-lived Wrestling Society X, Jersey All Pro Wrestling, and Dragon Gate USA. He operates a wrestling school in Edmonton. He is the son of Georgia Hart of the Hart wrestling family and wrestler B. J. Annis. He is also the nephew of former professional wrestlers, Bret Hart and Owen Hart. Hart achieved an early degree of fame when he became the youngest wrestler to be signed to the World Wrestling Federation. His subsequent release, controversial actions while wrestling on the independent circuit and various legal problems have earned him a measure of infamy.
Keith William Hart is an American born-Canadian retired professional wrestler and firefighter. He is a member of the Hart wrestling family and the third child of Helen and Stu Hart. He is best known for his work for Stampede Wrestling and several appearances for WWE, often with his siblings Bret, Owen, Bruce and Diana. In Stampede he won several championships and for WWE he participated in the seventh edition of Survivor Series.
Smith Stewart Hart was an American-Canadian professional wrestler and a member of the Hart wrestling family. His parents were Stu and Helen Hart. Smith was the first of their twelve children, being one of their eight sons, Bruce, Keith, Wayne, Dean, Bret, Ross and Owen followed him. Hart is also the father of two professional wrestlers, Mike and Matt Hart. Hart wrestled for the majority of his career in Canada but also worked briefly in other countries and is best known for his time in Stampede Wrestling and for his appearances for WWE. He died in 2017 due to prostate cancer.
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Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows is a 1998 Canadian documentary film directed, produced and written by Paul Jay. It follows Bret "The Hitman" Hart during his last year in the WWF, from his World Wrestling Federation Championship victory at SummerSlam to his final match with the company and the infamous Montreal Screwjob at the pay-per-view Survivor Series on November 9, 1997.
Paul Jay is a journalist, filmmaker, is the founder, editor-in-chief, and host of theAnalysis.news, a news analysis service. He was the founder, CEO and senior editor of The Real News Network (TRNN). Jay was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario and holds dual-citizenship with the United States. Jay is the nephew of screenwriter Ted Allan. A past chair of the Canadian Independent Film Caucus, the main organization of documentary filmmakers in Canada, Jay is the founding chair of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. He chaired the Hot Docs! board for its first five years.
Kurt Lockwood is an American pornographic actor and director, model, and musician.
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Ross Lindsay Hart is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, promoter, trainer, booker, TV producer, coach and actor. Hart is a member of the Hart wrestling family and the second youngest son of Stu and Helen Hart. He is best known for his work in Stampede Wrestling and several appearances in WWE, often with his siblings Bruce, Keith, Bret, Diana and Owen Hart.
Lost Years: A People's Struggle for Justice is a 2011 documentary directed by Kenda Gee and Tom Radford. The film premiered on December 5, 2011, at the Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, where it won the Best Documentary Award for history and culture. The film also aired as a two-part, national television mini-series for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. A series of extended episodes subsequently aired on CTV Two Alberta, June 8 and 15, 2013, with repeat broadcasts on November 16 and 23.
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Matthew Aryan Dean Herweg, better known by his ring name Matt Hart is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is a third generation wrestler member of the Hart family and the son of professional wrestler Smith Hart, oldest child of wrestler Stu Hart and promoter Helen Hart. Hart has wrestled extensively on the independent scene in Canada but also in the United Kingdom and the United States. He is the first member of his family to complete the Canadian Death Tour. Hart has regularly performed for the Hart Legacy Wrestling promotion with other members of his family. He was the subject of the 2016 documentary Hart Still Beating.
Hart Still Beating: Pro Wrestling Saved My Life - A Hart Family Documentary is a 2016 Canadian short documentary directed by Kurt Spenrath and Frederick Kroetsch for Telus about professional wrestlers Matt and Smith Hart, father and son from the Hart family. The film concerns Matt's childhood from that of the death of his mother as well as Smith's terminal cancer diagnosis which leads to them growing closer to each other through professional wrestling after being near estranged for many years.
Bobbi Jo Hart is an American-Canadian documentary filmmaker based in Montreal, Quebec. Hart was born in California and raised in Cottage Grove, Oregon. She is most noted for her films Rebels on Pointe, which won the award for Best Canadian Feature at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival in 2017 and received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Biography or Arts Documentary Program or Series at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019, and Fanny: The Right to Rock, which won the Rogers Audience Award at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and the award for Best Canadian Film at Inside Out in 2021.
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