FILMMAKER

Born 1971 / USA.  After earning his BA in the Television and Film Department at the University of Missouri Kansas City and California State University in San Diego, he moved to Berlin in 1995 to begin a career as a screenwriter with the Frankfurt-based Verlag der Autoren. There, he worked on both feature films and documentary productions.  His documentary films include  Homemade Hillbilly Jam  (2005) [co-writer and editor], which was shown in cinemas and at festivals and was distributed internationally. Additionally, the documentary  Forgetting Dad  (2008) [co-director and editor], co-produced by ZDF's  Das kleine Fernsehspiel, won the Special Jury Prize at IDFA and received the rating “Highly Recommended.”  In collaboration with the London-based company Oxford Films, Matt Sweetwood worked as an editor on the award-winning BBC production  The Love of Books  (2012). He won first prize at the BR-Telepool Documentary Competition in 2009 for  Beerland  (2013), for which he was both writer and director.  Matt is the owner of the production company Sweetwood Films, based in Potsdam, through which  The Beer Jesus from America  (2018) was produced and internationally distributed in collaboration with Rive Gauche TV. His editing studio hosted such award winning TV and cinema documentary “The Strait Guys”(2022), on which he was writer and editor. Matt is currently developing new projects with his company and as a freelancer.  

AWARDS

Gierson Trust Award, 'Best Historical Documentary' UK 2012
Short List German Film Award 'Lola' 2011 (German Oscar)
Dokuwettbewerb, BR-Telepool, 2009 Cinema Development Award, 1st Place
Honorable Mention Achtung Berlin, New Berlin Film Award
Audience Award Ippokrates International Health Film Festival, Kos (Greece)
William Dieterle Filmpreis (Special Prize), Germany
Grand Jury Prize, GZDOC, Guangzhou (China)
Special Jury Award Joris Ivens Competition - IDFA, Documentary Festival Amsterdam
Prize of the State Film Service Rheinland-Pfalz, 22nd Video/Filmtage Koblenz (Germany)

Berlin Independent Film Festival

Kreativ-Wettbewerbs 2021/22

HS Diploma Liberty High School, MO. '90

Television & Film Department SDSU, California State University, San Diego 90-94
B.A. Communication Studies, Deans List, University of Missouri, Kansas City 04'
 

WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS

(as Teacher/Dozent)

Orange County Children's Therapeutic Arts Center (OCCTAC), Sources 2: Script Mentoring Lectures, Drehbuch Workshops

JIM Jugendfilmfestival,  FÖN.ev Film Camp,  Medianwerkstadtt Potsdam, Film Seminar-Evangelische Gymnasium Hermannswerder.

Current Resume work submitted upon request:  matt@sweetwoodfilms.com