From Grokipedia
Full articleJustine Shapiro (born March 20, 1963) is a South African-born American documentary filmmaker, television host, and producer recognized for her work fostering cross-cultural understanding in conflict zones.
Shapiro grew up in Berkeley, California, after emigrating from South Africa, and began her career as an actress before transitioning to documentary production and on-camera hosting. She gained prominence as a host of the travel adventure series Globe Trekker (also known as Pilot Guides), presenting episodes from over 40 countries for more than a decade starting in the mid-1990s.
Her most acclaimed project is the 2001 documentary Promises, co-directed with B.Z. Goldberg and Carlos Bolado, which follows seven Israeli and Palestinian children in Jerusalem to humanize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through their personal stories and interactions. The film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature and two Emmy Awards, highlighting children's capacity for empathy amid entrenched divisions. Shapiro has continued producing films on sensitive geopolitical themes, including Our Summer in Tehran (2010), which depicts everyday family life in Iran from the perspective of a Jewish American mother and her son. Through her company Promises Films, founded in 1997, she emphasizes media that bridges divides in areas of human conflict.
In brief
Justine Shapiro (born March 20, 1963) is a South African-born American actress, filmmaker, writer, hostess and producer, who was one of several main hosts of the Pilot Productions travel/adventure series Globe Trekker (also called Pilot Guides in Canada and originally broadcast as Lonely Planet).
