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Diane Weyermann, Participant Exec and ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ EP, Remembered by Film Community

The Participant CCO and former director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program died Thursday of cancer in New York. She was 66.
Diane Weyermann, left, and Larry Karaszewski speak at the 91st Academy Awards Foreign Language Nominees Reception at the LACMA on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, in Los Angeles (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
Diane Weyermann, left, and Larry Karaszewski speak at the 91st Academy Awards Foreign Language Nominees Reception
Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP

The passing of documentary film champion and Participant Media executive Diane Weyermann has left a mark on the film community. The Participant chief content officer and former director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program died on Thursday at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer.

Weyermann played a formative role in the documentary space, executive-producing Oscar-winning documentaries such as Davis Guggenheim’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour,” and Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar’s “American Factory.” While at Participant, she oversaw films including “Darfur Now” (2007), Robert Kenner’s “Food, Inc.” (2008), Errol Morris’ “Standard Operating Procedure” (2008), Joshua Oppenheimer’s “The Look of Silence” (2014), Morgan Neville’s “The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble” (2015), and Marc Silver’s “3 1/2 Minutes” (2015).

“Diane and I met while I was directing ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and I immediately was struck by her creative brilliance,” said Davis Guggenheim in a statement. “She loved nonfiction and fiercely defended those who made it. She had a massive influence on my films and my evolution as a director. Her work over the last two decades shepherded in a new era for documentaries. Nonfiction will never be the same.”

“We mourn the loss of Diane Weyermann, a dedicated Academy member in the Documentary Branch and a vocal champion of documentary and international film. She co-chaired the International Feature Film Executive Committee for two consecutive years, alongside other committee service. Diane always led with integrity. She was a bright light for filmmakers everywhere and a tenacious force for progress. She will be greatly missed by her friends at the Academy and in our filmmaking community,” the Academy said in a statement.

She received a Primetime Emmy nomination this year for executive-producing David Byrne’s “American Utopia” special directed by Spike Lee, and in 2010 for executive-producing “Pressure Cooker.”

More reactions to Weyermann’s passing poured in on Twitter. See below.

 

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