Filmmakers Whose Work I Want to Watch That I Can't Get to Watching Currently but Hopefully Will in Good Time
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David Wark Griffith was born in rural Kentucky to Jacob "Roaring Jake" Griffith, a former Confederate Army colonel and Civil War veteran. Young Griffith grew up with his father's romantic war stories and melodramatic nineteenth-century literature that were to eventually shape his movies. In 1897 Griffith set out to pursue a career both acting and writing for the theater, but for the most part was unsuccessful. Reluctantly, he agreed to act in the new motion picture medium for Edwin S. Porter at the Edison Company. Griffith was eventually offered a job at the financially struggling American Mutoscope & Biograph Co., where he directed over four hundred and fifty short films, experimenting with the story-telling techniques he would later perfect in his epic The Birth of a Nation (1915).
Griffith and his personal cinematographer G.W. Bitzer collaborated to create and perfect such cinematic devices as the flashback, the iris shot, the mask and cross-cutting. In the years following "Birth", Griffith never again saw the same monumental success as his signature film and, in 1931, his increasing failures forced his retirement. Though hailed for his vision in narrative film-making, he was similarly criticized for his blatant racism. Griffith died in Los Angeles in 1948, one of the most dichotomous figures in film history.- Writer
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George Walton Lucas, Jr. was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto, California. His father was a stationery store owner and he had three siblings. During his late teen years, he went to Thomas Downey High School and was very much interested in drag racing. He planned to become a professional racecar driver. However, a terrible car accident just after his high school graduation ended that dream permanently. The accident changed his views on life.
He decided to attend Modesto Junior College before enrolling in the University of Southern California film school. As a film student, he made several short films including Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB (1967) which won first prize at the 1967-68 National Student Film Festival. In 1967, he was awarded a scholarship by Warner Brothers to observe the making of Finian's Rainbow (1968) which was being directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Lucas and Coppola became good friends and formed American Zoetrope in 1969. The company's first project was Lucas' full-length version of THX 1138 (1971). In 1971, Coppola went into production for The Godfather (1972), and Lucas formed his own company, Lucasfilm Ltd.
In 1973, he wrote and directed the semiautobiographical American Graffiti (1973) which won the Golden Globe and garnered five Academy Award nominations. This gave him the clout he needed for his next daring venture. From 1973 to 1974, he began writing the screenplay which became Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). He was inspired to make this movie from Flash Gordon and the Planet of the Apes films. In 1975, he established ILM. (Industrial Light & Magic) to produce the visual effects needed for the movie. Another company called Sprocket Systems was established to edit and mix Star Wars and later becomes known as Skywalker Sound. His movie was turned down by several studios until 20th Century Fox gave him a chance. Lucas agreed to forego his directing salary in exchange for 40% of the film's box-office take and all merchandising rights. The movie went on to break all box office records and earned seven Academy Awards. It redefined the term "blockbuster" and the rest is history.
Lucas made the other Star Wars films and along with Steven Spielberg created the Indiana Jones series which made box office records of their own. From 1980 to 1985, Lucas was busy with the construction of Skywalker Ranch, built to accommodate the creative, technical, and administrative needs of Lucasfilm. Lucas also revolutionized movie theaters with the THX system which was created to maintain the highest quality standards in motion picture viewing.
He went on to produce several more movies that have introduced major innovations in filmmaking technology. He is chairman of the board of the George Lucas Educational Foundation. In 1992, George Lucas was honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his lifetime achievement.
He reentered the directing chair with the production of the highly-anticipated Star Wars prequel trilogy beginning with Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) . The films have been polarizing for fans and critics alike, but were commercially successful and have become a part of culture. The animated spin-off series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) was supervised by Lucas. He sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, making co-chair Kathleen Kennedy president. He has attended the premieres of new Star Wars films and been generally supportive of them.- Director
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Stan Brakhage was born on 14 January 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. He was a director and cinematographer, known for The Loom (1986), The God of Day Had Gone Down Upon Him (2000) and Dog Star Man (1964). He was married to Marilyn Jull and Jane Wodening. He died on 9 March 2003 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.- Producer
- Director
- Animation Department
Norman McLaren is one of the most awarded filmmakers in the history of Canadian cinema, and a pioneer in both animation and filmmaking. Born in Scotland, he entered the Glasgow School of Fine Arts in 1932 to study set design. His early experiments in animation included actually scratching and painting the film stock itself, as he did not have ready access to a camera. In the early 30s he worked as a cameraman in Scotland and England, and in 1936 went to Spain to film the Civil War. He emigrated to the US in 1939, aware that war was imminent, and in 1941, at the invitation of John Grierson, he moved to Canada to work for the National Film Board.
McLaren made several propaganda films for the NFB, but continued develop his experimental work in his spare time. He later founded the animation department at the NFB, where he was at his most prolific. His most famous work, Neighbours (1952), utilized a style of animation known as pixilation, where the camera films moving people and objects a few frames at a time, giving the action a frantic, unearthly look. The short film won McLaren an Oscar. He continued to use a variety of styles and techniques on his animated shorts, including the optical editor to film _Pas de Deux (1968)_, filming through a prism for _Line: Horizontal (1962)_ and also using live action featuring himself in Opening Speech (1960).
In addition to film, McLaren worked with UNESCO in the 50s and 60s on programs to teach film and animation techniques in China and India. His five part "Animated Motion" shorts, produced in the late 70s, are an excellent example of instruction on the basics of film animation.
McLaren died in 1987, leaving behind a lasting legacy to the film and animation world. The Canadian Film Board recognized this in 1989 by naming the CFB head office building the Norman McLaren Building.- Director
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Peter Kubelka was born on 23 March 1934 in Vienna, Austria. He is a director and editor, known for Mosaic in Trust (1955), Unsere Afrikareise (1966) and Pause! (1977).- Director
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Jonas Mekas, born December 24, 1922, Semeniskiai, Birzai, Lithuania, is a director, cinematographer, editor, writer, actor, poet, artist and publicist. More than 60 years of tireless work in film, arts and media has earned him the epithet "The Godfather of American Avant-Garde Cinema". In 1944 Jonas Mekas left Lithuania, with his brother Adolfas, because of the war. The both of them were imprisoned in a labor-camp in Elmshorn, Germany. After eight months they escaped to Denmark. By the end of 1949 the Mekas brothers emigrated to the U.S., settling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. Two weeks after his arrival, he borrowed the money to buy his first Bolex 16mm camera and began to record brief moments of his life. Soon he got deeply involved in the American Avant-Garde film movement. In 1954, together with his brother, he started Film Culture magazine, which soon became the most important film publication in the US. In 1958 Jonas Mekas began his legendary Movie Journal column in the Village Voice. In 1962 he founded the Film-Makers' Cooperative, and in 1964 the Film-Makers' Cinematheque, which eventually grew into Anthology Film Archives, one of the world's largest and most important repositories of avant-garde cinema, and a screening venue. Jonas Mekas film "The Brig" was awarded the Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1963. Other films include "Walden" (1969), "Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania" (1972), "Lost Lost Lost" (1975), "Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol" (1990), "Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas" (1992), "As I was Moving Ahead I saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty" (2000), "Letter from Greenpoint" (2005), "Sleepless Nights Stories" (2011) and "Out-takes from the Life of a Happy Man" (2012). In 2007, he completed a series of 365 short films released on the internet -- one film every day -- and since then has continued to share new work on his website. He currently lives and works in New York City.- Director
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- Actress
Marie Menken was born on 25 May 1909 in New York City, New York, USA. She was a director and cinematographer, known for The Life of Juanita Castro (1965), The Gravediggers from Guadix (1960) and Prison (1965). She was married to Willard Maas. She died on 29 December 1970 in Brooklyn, New York, USA.- Director
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- Producer
Ken Jacobs was born on 25 May 1933 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and editor, known for New York Ghetto Fishmarket 1903 (2007), Return to the Scene of the Crime (2008) and Star Spangled to Death (2004). He is married to Flo Jacobs. They have two children.- Director
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Hans Richter was born on 6 April 1888 in Berlin, Germany. He was a director and writer, known for Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947), 8 X 8: A Chess Sonata in 8 Movements (1955) and Chesscetera (1957). He was married to Frida Ruppel, Erna Niemeyer, Maria van Vanselow and Elisabeth Steiner. He died on 1 February 1976 in Locarno, Switzerland.- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Jean Cocteau was one of the most multi-talented artists of the 20th century. In addition to being a director, he was a poet, novelist, painter, playwright, set designer, and actor. He began writing at 10 and was a published poet by age 16. He collaborated with the "Russian Ballet" company of Sergei Diaghilev, and was active in many art movements, but always remained a poet at heart. His films reflect this fact. Cocteau was also a homosexual, and made no attempt to hide it. His favorite actor was his close friend Jean Marais, who appeared in almost every one of his films. Cocteau made about twelve films in his career, all rich with symbolism and surreal imagery. He is now regarded as one of the most important avant-garde directors in cinema.- Director
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Bruce Baillie was born on 24 September 1931 in Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Mr. Hayashi (1963), Quixote (1965) and Quick Billy (1971). He was married to Lorie Apit. He died on 10 April 2020 in Camano Island, Washington, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Animation Department
Harry Smith was born on 29 May 1923 in Portland, Oregon, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Mahagonny (1980), Number 8 (1954) and Number 13 (1962). He died on 26 November 1991 in New York City, New York, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Cinematographer
Jack Smith was born on 14 November 1932 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Flaming Creatures (1963), The Illiac Passion (1967) and Normal Love (1963). He died on 25 September 1989 in Manhattan, New York, USA.- Director
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Malcolm le Grice was born in 1940 in Plymouth, Devon, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for Blackbird Descending (1977), Berlin Horse (1970) and Emily: Third Party Speculation (1979).- Writer
- Director
- Music Department
George Maciunas was a Lithuanian-American artist, known as a founding member of the Fluxus community of artists, architects, writers, musicians, and designers. His main goals were simplicity and fun.
He was born Jurgis Maciunas in Kaunas, Lithuania, on Novmber 8, 1931, to a Lithuanian father and Ukrainian mother. He escaped the Soviet occupation by moving to America. There he studied architecture at Carnegie Mellon University. Eventually he developed several loft buildings for artists in SoHo, New York City, and a farm in Massachussetts. However, real estate business was not his calling, and he expressed himself in various artistic initiatives. Maciunas was a master of public-shunning activities, like dressing as dentists with his friends, and using tooth brushes to clean the sidewalk near the Plaza Hotel in New York.
Maciunas was co-founder of the experimental art association, that he called Fluxus. He assembled a loose, non-hierarchical gathering of innovative artists, architects, writers, composers, and designers around the World. Their performances blended different artistic disciplines, visual arts, music, and literature. In 1960 Maciunas started an art gallery at 925 Madison Avenue in New York that became a meeting place for the Fluxus people. They used a wide combination of influences from Dadaists and Marcel Duchamp to John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Nam June Paik, and Futurists.
Fluxus focused on the artist's personality and individual actions instead of the traditional "professionalism." Influenced by the "prepared piano" idea of John Cage, Maciunas invented "prepared sports," multi-bike vehicle, funny food events, and "humorous dances" on sticky floor. Fluxus main ideas were loosely formulated as internationalism, experimentalism, inter-media, play or gags, minimalism and ephemeriality. Early Fluxus events took place in New York in 1960-62.
In 1962 the first Fluxus festival was held in Wiesbaden, Germany, with performances by Maciunas, Dick Higgins, Nam June Paik, Alison Knowles, Emmett Williams and others. In 1963, at the Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf Beuys and Maciunas first appeared in Fluxus actions playing pianos as part of improvised performance. More Fluxus festivals (also called "Free expression festivals") were held in the 1960s in Europe, in the 1970s in Seattle, and in the 1980s in various US and European cities. In the late 1970s and 1980s the Russian underground performing artists Sergei Kuryokhin and Boris Grebenshchikov were experimenting with the Fluxus ideas in their happening shows. Eventually a Fluxus-style community of free artists was founded in a abandoned building at Pushkinskaya 10 in St. Petersburg.
Since the 1960s, Maciunas pioneered the revival of artistic communities in SoHo by converting several rundown buildings into artist's lofts and studios. At that time Maciunas assembled an highly diverse community of creative people who shared their innovative artistic ideas. Maciunas embraced many unknown artists and helped to advance their careers. Maciunas and the Fluxus movement attracted young Japanese artist Yoko Ono. She and Maciunas became close friends. In 1970s George Maciunas was invited by Yoko Ono to paint and decorate the John Lennon apartment in the "Dakota" Building in New York City.
His ideas attracted and influenced many artists around the World, such as Yoko Ono, John Lennon, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Nam June Paik, La Monte Young, Eric Andersen, Yasunao Tone, Ben Vautier, Ben Patterson, George Brecht, Alison Knowles, Philip Corner, Wolf Vostell, Geoffrey Hendricks, Joseph Beuys among many others. Maciunas's Fluxus Manifesto declared "opposition to the bourgeois sickness and commercialized culture." He also initiated mail-art and free networking of mail-artists in 60s, that eventually developed into Internet networking.
In 1978 Maciunas married his girlfriend, Billie Hutching, in a performance piece called "The Fluxwedding" where the bride and the groom traded clothing. Three months later, George Maciunas died of pancreatic cancer, on May 9, 1978, in a Boston hospital, surrounded by his Fluxus friends. That same year, Nam June Paik and Joseph Beuys gave a performance "In Memoriam George Maciunas" at the Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf where Beuys and Maciunas first appeared in Fluxus actions. The concert lasted 74 minutes - Maciunas died aged 47.
Fluxus artists continue to meet in cities around the world as well as in cyberspace. In 2005 an oratorio loosely based on Maciunas premiered in the Summer Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania. A series of Fluxus-inspired performances were given by LA Art Girls at the Getty Center in Los Angeles in 2006 and 2008.