After a decade as a war reporter, Rick Rowley reinvented the investigative war film with his groundbreaking, Oscar-nominated DIRTY WARS (IFC Films).
Since then, he has won multiple Emmys, along with DuPont, Peabody, and Polk Awards, for hard-hitting investigative thrillers that fuse high-stakes journalism with powerful, immersive storytelling.
His Emmy Award–winning feature 16 SHOTS (Showtime) offers a definitive look at the Chicago police killing of Laquan McDonald and the cover-up that reached the highest levels. His follow-up for Showtime, KINGDOM OF SILENCE, also won an Emmy for its explosive examination of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. His recent HBO feature documentary, CRITICAL INCIDENT, reveals the corruption and cruelty at the heart of the U.S. Border Patrol and has been nominated for an Emmy and a Peabody.
Rowley is also an innovator in nonfiction series. He created and executive produced two seasons of the prophetic series AMERICA DIVIDED with Norman Lear, Rosario Dawson, and Zach Galifianakis. His series DOCUMENTING HATE unmasked an underground neo-Nazi fight club and a terrorist cell. The series received an Emmy, a DuPont Award, and prompted an FBI investigation that led to dozens of arrests.
Rowley’s newest film, HELL’S ARMY, follows a dissident Russian investigator as she pursues the world’s most feared mercenary army across the globe.