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"Drew is the D.W. Griffith of documentaries – the guy who figured out how to show a story rather than tell it."
Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Press
"No filmmaker has changed his branch of cinema more drastically, enduringly, or quietly than did Robert Drew."
Richard Brody, The New Yorker
"Modern art has Picasso. Rock-n-Roll has Bill Haley. And the documentary film has Robert Drew. All of us who make nonfiction movies can trace our lineage to what he created."
Michael Moore, filmmaker
Robert Drew had a vision for a new kind of film, one that captured the drama of real life to allow viewers a direct experience of other worlds. With his 1960 film, PRIMARY, Drew and his Associates revolutionized the documentary. Drew continued to produce groundbreaking films for another 50 years.
Without scripts, directors or talking heads, the camera follows people freely through their stories and the footage is edited to convey the sense of what it was like to be there. Drew likened this method of real-life storytelling to a theatre without actors and plays without playwrights.
MoreDrew’s style of filmmaking gave him unrivaled access to President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy himself grasped that the technique could create a new form of history, once musing to Drew that he wished he could have observed FDR in the 24 hours before he declared war on Japan.
MoreDrew worked at Life Magazine in the 1950s and wondered why television’s moving images didn’t generate the electrifying excitement of candid still photography. He set out to change that and founded a company that produced films that revolutionized the documentary.
More"These films are about the pain and joy and poetry of being human, and they are a testament to the patience, sensitivity and respect that the great filmmakers at Drew Associates paid to their subjects."
Documentary magazine, Fall 2013
The 19th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival will feature two Drew Associates films as part of this year’s thematic program, “Perfect and Otherwise: Documenting American Politics.” Curated by filmmaker Read More
On April 6, The Criterion Collection will host its first-ever “Criterion Collection Live!” event at The Metrograph in Manhattan. Designed to give ticketholders a peek into Criterion’s discriminating process for Read More
These are rarely seen, cutting-edge films that form the bedrock of early American cinéma vérité. Robert Drew’s vision went far beyond his breakthrough film, PRIMARY, when he and Richard Leacock Read More
The latest Drew Associates classic film to join the lineup at The Criterion Channel is The Children Were Watching. This 26-minute documentary, filmed by Richard Leacock, lets you feel what Read More
Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, the dynamic filmmaking team behind this year’s American Factory, shared the 2019 Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence. American Factory went on to win the Read More
Our hearts are heavy with the news that D.A. Pennebaker, our friend and master filmmaker, has died. His passion to capture life on film, without artifice or interference, led him Read More
Beloved auto racer Eddie Sachs' obsession to win the 1960 Indianapolis 500 is captured with intimate camera techniques never used before.
Anti-U.S. sentiment builds in Latin America, fueled by leaders like Cuba's Fidel Castro.
The first week of school integration in New Orleans is marked by violent demonstrations of hatred by white parents as their children look on.
This fly-on-the-wall doc paints a deeply personal portrait of a young, naive Jane Fonda as she prepares for an ill-fated Broadway play.
A crusading lawyer and his novel legal strategy to save a man from the electric chair.
Rival high school football coaches prepare their teams for a legendary showdown at the Florida state championship.
The story of a former gang leader and ex-convict turned social worker, Piri Thomas, trying to save a gang leader, Johnny, from death or prison.
The first candid film made on a foreign chief of state, three weeks in the life of Jawaharlal Nehru.
A talented jazz trumpeter tries to get clean in Synanon House, a unique drug-treatment center on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif.
Susan Starr is a talented young concert pianist preparing for the biggest competition of her life. She also happens to have a terrible cold.
Real-life suspense unfolds as a Peace Corps nurse must bypass Indonesian pirates to get her pregnant patient to an emergency surgery.
Eddie Sachs is once again on the pole for the 1961 Indy 500, with highlights from the previous year's race.
A U.S. helicopter pilot flying combat missions in Vietnam records letters home to his wife and infant son.
A young couple in love, with a baby they love, fall into heroin addiction.
Jim Beattie, 6'9" tall, vies for the heavyweight crown against Dick Wipperman in Madison Square Garden.
A wild ride on the Duke's merry-go-round that presents him at the pinnacle of his 50-year career.
An intimate portrait of Edward Villella, one of the greatest ballet dancers in history.
The personalities of Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Lloyd shape their musical styles.
A human look at three astronauts and their Apollo 9 mission.
Remarkable aerial photography captures the beauty and speed of flying as two glider pilots vie to win the 1969 U.S. Soaring Championship.
Orson Welles hosts an exploration from science fiction to science fact about extraterrestrial life.
A trans-Atlantic sailing race and grand entrance into New York Harbor for the U.S. bicentennial, as seen aboard six Tall Ships.
Documentary following modern dancer/choreographer Kathryn Posin as she shares the joy of her art and independent lifestyle.
This up-close portrait of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi reveals the complex dynamics of the world's largest democracy.
A Los Angeles gang attacks a grocer and his family who fight back with the aid of the police and the courts.
Jailed Los Angeles gang members tell their side of the war with a grocer, and meet again in a Los Angeles courtroom.
Auctioneer travels Nebraska disposing of farms, farmers and one of America's great traditions.
A unique and intimate look into the Nehru-Gandhi political family that shaped modern India over three generations.
Using a custom, home-built experimental plane, Robert Drew captures remarkable aerial shots of a hawk migration over Panama.
Two high school basketball team captains prepare to face off in the city championship, where winning can offer a chance of a better life.
Bob Drew’s war as a teenage fighter pilot profiled by Ernie Pyle and how those experiences influenced his development of American cinéma vérité.
The anticipation and fervor builds as Eddie Sachs, a beloved and charismatic driver, starts both the 1960 and 1961 Indianapolis 500 from the pole, or lead, position.
New 2K digital restorations of four classic films that form the bedrock of what President John F. Kennedy understood would be a new form of history.
