Arts & culture, Film

Cannes premiere for alum's documentary on Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher

By Kathleen Maclay

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Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds are the focus of a new documentary by a Graduate School of Journalism alumna.

Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds are the focus of a new documentary by a Graduate School of Journalism alumna.

A documentary by a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the year-old Golden Eye award.

The film, “Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds,” chronicles the lives of Fisher, best known as Princess Leia in “Star Wars,” and her mother, Reynolds, whose launched her extensive career in films in the 1950s and still performs today in nightclubs. It is planned to be aired on HBO in early 2017.

Alexis Bloom, who earned a master’s degree in the journalism school’s documentary filmmaking program in 2001, co-directed and produced the documentary that recently premiered at Cannes.

Read more about Bloom's latest film here.