PietraBrettkelly
- Director
- Producer
Journalist turned filmmaker Pietra Brettkelly has travelled to Anakiwa, Afghanistan and the Arctic Circle, directing both television and feature-length documentaries. The Sundance-selected The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins won awards in four nations. Her 2019 fashion feature Yellow is Forbidden was the first Kiwi film to screen in Tribeca Film Festival's main competition and, in 2026, her documentary Crocodile won Best Film in Tribeca's Viewpoints category.
Biography
Pietra Brettkelly's globetrotting documentaries have become regulars at festivals the world over. Her work has screened at Sundance, Toronto, Venice and Berlin, and received numerous accolades.
Growing up in a family of storytellers and travellers, "an appreciation of other peoples and other worlds" was instilled early on. Pietra's mother’s family were Irish; her father’s family had links to both England and Bahrain. After studying journalism at the age of 20, she set off overseas. In the 1990s Brettkelly began freelancing for TV3 and TVNZ, and by the middle of that decade she'd begun directing on numerous shows, many arts related, including the magazine-style For Arts Sake. By the turn of the millennium she was on the road again, helming episodes of travel.co.nz, and heading to East Timor and Tibet for Intrepid Journeys.
Screenography
Awards
2026 Millennium Docs Against Gravity Festival (Poland)
Best Documentary on Art and Music (shared with collective The Critics): Crocodile
2026 Sheffield DocFest (United Kingdom)
Youth Jury Award (shared with collective The Critics): Crocodile
“Tell stories that affect you, that you can identify with, and then they will resonate with an audience. Also talk to every person you sit next to on a plane — you can never predict where your next inspiration will come from.”