Saturday, July 31, 10:00am – 1:00pm

Meet the Filmmakers!

Panel Discussion: What direction is filmmaking headed? To what audience do you want to speak? Ken Loach, Idrissa Ouédraogo, Kenji Fukasaku, Arturo Ripsten and Claire Denis discuss their interests and concerns.

Moderated by Emanuel Levy, Variety Film Critic, film professor and author.

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The American Cinematheque, Universal Studios, Absolut Vodka and United Airlines honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock with the first annual Universal Studios Hitchcock International Director Series.

This weeklong forum on filmmaking brings together ten directors, representing ten different countries, whose work demonstrates, on a global level, the variety, beauty and importance of this art.

Five evenings are dedicated to the presentation of a film by, and discussion with, a major international director. Acclaimed directors Ken Loach (Great Britain), Arturo Ripstein (Mexico), Kinji Fukasaku (Japan), Idrissa Ouédraogo (Burkina Faso, Africa) and Claire Denis (France) join us this year to discuss their work.

On Saturday morning these five renowned directors participate in a panel discussion to share their views on National vs. Global filmmaking. The panel is moderated by Variety film critic and film historian, Emanuel Levy.

Joining the esteemed panel and audience are five directors whose first films have shown the promise of exciting careers, Deepa Mehta (India/Canada), Garin Nugroho (Indonesia), Lynne Ramsay (Scotland), Tsai Ming-Liang (Taiwan) and Eric Mendelsohn (United States).

The spotlight turns on these five emerging directors and their work in the ABSOLUT New Directors Showcase. Five screenings highlight one film from each of these filmmakers. Each screening is followed by a Q&A with the director.

LADYBIRD LADYBIRD, 1994, British Consulate, 101min. Based on true events, LADYBIRD LADYBIRD tells the story of Maggie Conlan, a mother, barely in control of her life, who is declared unfit and whose children are taken from her by social services. What ensues is a desperate battle to reclaim her family and her humanity from bureaucrats who keep pushing her down. Filmed with an unpredictable spareness of style and story, LADYBIRD LADYBIRD is dominated by Crissy Rock’s ferocious, emotionally wrenching performance as Maggie. "LADYBIRD LADYBIRD is a good one – more painful to watch than any slasher film, because its emotional violence literally hits home. – Richard Corliss, Time. Followed by discussion with Ken Loach.

"There was this genius Ken Loach making these films, and you started to know what the faces looked like and what the language was…. There wasn’t anything you could learn because Ken was showing it so much better than anyone else." -- Stephen Frears

One of Great Britain’s leading filmmakers for more than thirty years, Ken Loach has long been held up as a pioneer of "realist" cinema. Loach’s films champion the plight of the British working-class, often portraying these characters in such a harsh, unflinching light that the films seem to approach the realm of docu-drama. The 1990’s have shown Ken Loach to be a master filmmaker working at the peak of his craft and such films as RIFF RAFF, RAINING STONES, LAND AND FREEDOM, and MY NAME IS JOE have been honored with numerous prizes at Cannes and other festivals throughout Europe.

Born in 1954 in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Idrissa Ouédraogo’s earliest impressions of cinema were formed by the films of Charlie Chaplin. After working in local theatre and making short films for the government, Ouédraogo pursued his films studies abroad in both the Soviet Union and France. He made his feature debut with YAM DAABO in 1986. Since then he has directed five more features, including YAABA and TILAI, which won the Special Jury Prize at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Compared to Jean Renoir and Satyajit Ray for his non-simplistic humanism, Ouédraogo’s films are defined by a strong sense of place and character, and a refined visual style based on long takes and natural sounds.

Acknowledged as the master of the Yakuza genre, or Japanese gangster film, Kinji Fukasaku has managed to create and mold a unique style while simultaneously walking the sometimes-difficult line between art and box office. During more than thirty years of filmmaking, Fukasaku has directed more than fifty theatrical films including, BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY, BLACK LIZARD, WOLVES, PIGS AND PEOPLE, and TORA! TORA! TORA! (co-directed by Richard Fleischer).

The son of a film producer, Arturo Ripstein grew up surrounded by the world of cinema. In 1962, he worked as an assistant to Luis Buñuel on THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL and in 1965 he made his directorial debut with TIEMPO DE MORIR (TIME TO DIE), an unusual Western based on a screenplay by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Carlos Fuentes. Crossing over genres and cultural references, Ripstein’s cinema is a provocative world rife with lost, marginal characters inhabiting a seductive landscape of forbidden love and tragic violence. Considered one of Mexico’s greatest filmmakers, Ripstein has made more than twenty-five films, including EL IMPERIO DE LA FORTUNA (REALM OF FORTUNE), LA MUJER DEL PUERTO (WOMAN OF THE PORT), and PROFUNDO CARMESI (DEEP CRIMSON).

Born in France and raised in West Africa, Claire Denis has become one of France’s most gifted writer-directors. After learning her craft as an assistant director to such filmmakers as Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch and Jacques Rivette, Denis burst onto the scene in 1988 with the critically acclaimed CHOCOLATE. She has since gone on to make six more feature films including J’AI PAS SOMMEIL (I CAN’T SLEEP) and NENETTE ET BONI. With a focus on the relationships between alienated characters living on society’s fringe, Denis has demonstrated a remarkable story-telling ability that allows the viewer to get deep inside the lives of her characters, to feel with them, and, hopefully, to understand the inner-conflicts that drive them towards the difficult decisions they must make.

Scotland’s Lynne Ramsay won the Prix du Jury at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival for her short, GASMAN, and her feature debut RATCATCHER was received this year with a standing ovation. Hailed in Variety by David Rooney as "a resonant new voice," Ramsay has quickly risen to the front ranks of emerging European directors.

THE RIVER, 1997, CMPC, 115 min. Employing Ming-Liang’s trademarks, precipitation and pessimism, THE RIVER is a powerful film focussing on the disintegration of family. Water, so often portrayed as a source of cleansing and redemption, is used here as a river, flowing through Taipei, that carries nothing but moral decay and emotional agony. As a father and son set off on a journey in search of a faith healer, the spare use of dialogue and absence of music forces the viewer to inhabit the alienated lives of these characters as they hurdle toward an inevitable, truly shocking climax. Followed by a discussion with Tsai Ming-Liang.

 Raised in Malaysia, Tsai Ming-Liang moved to Taiwan to study film and has since completed four features including REBELS OF A NEON GOD, VIVE L’AMOUR and THE RIVER, a minimalist, modernist trilogy exploring the decay of modern society. His most recent film is the critically acclaimed THE HOLE.

A talented writer/director/editor Eric Mendelsohn recently won the Director’s Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival for his debut feature JUDY BERLIN, which was also an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival's Un Certain Regard. The film also opened the New York festival New Directors New Films. Mendelsohn’s work on JUDY BERLIN has brought on favorable comparisons to the films of Woody Allen and even inspired critic Ray Greene to write that "JUDY BERLIN is better Woody Allen than Woody himself has pulled off in close to ten years."

A native of Indonesia, Garin Nugroho has earned a strong following on the international festival circuit for his stunning, naturalistic style. He has completed four films, including BULAN TERTUSUK ILALANG (AND THE MOON DANCES) and DAUN DI ATAS BANTAL (LEAF ON A PILLOW), which have won numerous awards and helped Nugroho to become an inspiration to young Indonesian filmmakers. "Nugroho is certainly the most audacious filmmaker in Southeast Asia."—John Powers

 Born in India in 1949, Deepa Mehta emigrated to Canada in 1973 where she has worked as a writer, producer, editor and director. Her debut feature, SAM AND ME, won an honorable mention at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. She has since directed three more films including FIRE, which inspired a riotous reaction in India, and her most recent film, EARTH.