Overview
- The death was announced in a family statement issued with Zipporah Films, which said he died peacefully on Monday.
- The statement did not specify the place of death, noting he maintained homes in Massachusetts, Maine and Paris.
- Over nearly six decades he directed or produced more than 40 films, often releasing new work almost annually.
- His 1967 breakthrough Titicut Follies exposed abuses in a Massachusetts institution and became a model for natural-light, no-narration documentary craft.
- He founded Zipporah Films in 1971 and later received the Venice Golden Lion for lifetime achievement and an Honorary Oscar; he is survived by two sons and three grandchildren.