about us

Filmmakers Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly have been making documentaries - both individually and together at Spargel Productions - for almost 20 years.  They’ve been honored with numerous awards, including an Emmy Award for their film The Homestretch (PBS, Independent Lens) and a MacArthur Foundation Journalism and Media Grant. Their work has been supported by Sundance Institute, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Chicago Media Project, BRITDOCS, Michigan Arts Council, Michigan Humanities Council, Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention, Kind World Foundation, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, Bertha Foundation, and Fledgling Fund (among others).

Anne and Kirsten share a deep commitment to projects that celebrate the transformative power of the human spirit, where the individual experience illuminates the face of society as a whole, as well as projects that explore the human connection to social justice issues. They have a strong interest in the curious, quirky and wondrous stories of life in the United States and the shifting definition of what it means to be an American.