Director Biography

Los Angeles, anni trenta. Con l’avvento del nazismo il regista Georg Wilhelm Pabst lascia la Francia dove sta lavorando e si trasferisce negli Stati Uniti. È uno dei grandi maestri del cinema tedesco d’avanguardia, ha diretto le più importanti star del muto e portato al successo Greta Garbo rendendola immortale, ma in America è solo uno come tanti. Incapace di adattarsi ai meccanismi dello studio system, dopo aver girato un film che si rivela un fiasco, non vede più un futuro a Hollywood e abbandona il sole della California per tornare in Europa.

In this first biography of Woody Allen in over a decade, David Evanier discusses key movies, plays, and prose as well as Allen's personal life. Evanier tackles the themes that Allen has spent a lifetime sorting through in art: morality, sexuality, Judaism, the eternal struggle of head and heart. Woody will be the definitive word on a major American talent as he begins his ninth decade and his sixth decade of making movies.

Today's most acclaimed film directors reveal intimate behind-the-scenes details of their most influential work and their unique approaches to their art. In the companion to the Silver Plaque-winning Starz/Encore documentary series, this book offers interviews with 13 top filmmakers. Contains each director's filmography, complete listings of major awards, and cast credits for all films discussed.

They are the most famous and controversial directors the CIA has ever had - Allen Dulles, Richard Helms, William Colby, and William Casey. Disciples is the story of these dynamic agents and their daring espionage and sabotage in wartime Europe under OSS Director Bill Donovan.

Known as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's unique vision in movies like Psycho and The Birds sent shivers down our spines and shock waves through the film industry. His innovative camera techniques have been studied for decades, and his gift for storytelling cemented his place in history. Many directors make great movies, but the genius of Hitchcock helped make movies great. Learn how a chubby boy from London became the "Master of Suspense".

Una llamada de Carlos Saura puso en contacto con Stanley Kubrick a Vicente Molina Foix, quien, a lo largo de veinte años de una relación que solo acabó con la muerte del director, tradujo al español los diálogos de cinco de sus películas. Este libro es una crónica de esa labor y del trato esporádico pero a menudo jugoso con el propio cineasta –del que es testimonio una atípica entrevista que Molina Foix le hizo en su casa en los años 80.

Why would someone leave a shining career in management to work among the dead? Angjolie Mei, funeral director and "life celebrant", recounts how the death of her father—a veteran known as 'The Coffin King' in the funeral industry—prompted this dramatic choice. What exactly happens during embalming? What kind of post-death restoration is needed for second-degree burn victims? What are the little-known facts surrounding suicide in Singapore?

Before he was producing the musical hits of our generation, Jeffrey was just a kid coming to terms with his adoption, trying to understand his sexuality, and determined to escape his dysfunctional household in a poor neighborhood just outside Detroit. We see him find his voice through musical theater and move to New York, where he is determined to shed his past and make a name for himself on Broadway. But moving to the big city is never easy—especially not at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis—and Jeffrey learns to survive and thrive in the colorful and cutthroat world of commercial theatre.

Few figures in Hollywood's history have been as acclaimed and controversial as director Roman Polanski, whose legendary films would stand out if not for the fact that they're often eclipsed by the turbulent life he's led.

Ron Howard is long overdue to have his filmography viewed through the lens of the auteur theory. Since his debut in the late-1970s, he has remained one of the most prolific and recognizable working filmmakers, and yet... his "directed by" titles have garnished a low amount of commentary by film academics. Even younger mainstream directors have earned more than one volume of academic attention ? and yet Howard, who has continually developed himself, seems to only get treated with pop-culture-trivia "fun fact" regarding his acting career.

François Truffaut: il giovane cinefilo che, all’inizio degli anni Cinquanta, inventa un nuovo modo di fare critica, scoprendo Hitchcock e il cinema americano; il regista che inaugura la Nouvelle Vague con I quattrocento colpi; e soprattutto l’artista che sa trasformare il personale in universale, e rivolgersi a tutti gli spettatori, ma parlando a uno a uno, confidenzialmente. I suoi film, al contrario di quelli di molti suoi compagni d’avventura, restano, inattaccabili dal tempo che passa, e il vuoto che ha lasciato alla sua morte, nel 1984, è uno dei più lancinanti nel cinema contemporaneo.

В этой книге собраны дневники Станислава Иосифовича и обращенные к нему письма. Режиссер открывается в них искренне и доверительно: именно таким он стремился появиться перед своим зрителем. В воспоминаниях Станислава Ростоцкого показана история целого поколения, родившегося в революционную эпоху, прошедшего войну и уходящего в постперестроечную эпоху. Он считал, что важнейший талант человека – дар чувствовать чужую боль как свою. И это нашло отражение в его фильмах.

The movie director Paul Williams is a real-life Forrest Gump. Williams' experiences form a unique and wild constellation of encounters with star power, political power, and spiritual power, crafting a life cycle that led to fame, fortune, integrity, and anonymity.

Blending a behind-the-scenes history of New York City’s Public Theater with an affecting remembrance of her husband, Public Theater founder Joe Papp, Public/Private is Gail Merrifield Papp’s enthralling and heartfelt memoir of a legendary theatrical institution.

In this dazzling Hollywood memoir, Jeff Margolis takes us on the ultimate behind-the-scenes tour of television’s most memorable variety series and specials spanning the past fifty years—from the most iconic variety shows of the 1970s to the Oscars. Today, as one of the most prolific directors/producers of event television, Margolis is not only a technical ringmaster but also a confidante and sage to the stars who headline the shows. Students of television will savor the “how-to” of event television while fans will love the intimate stories of beloved stars.

With more than 90 features to his name, the adventurous life of Esmail Koushan, father of Iranian cinema, seen through the lens of his equally enterprising younger brother, the cinematographer Mahmoud Koushan, is an indelible chapter in the history of the seventh art.

From child abuse to drug abuse, from dealing with death to dealing in life, join award-winning film maker Simon Lamb on the ‘off the rails’ rollercoaster ride that’s been his story so far. It’s a true ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’ adventure, as Simon moves on from being sexually abused at school to modeling alongside some of the world’s sexiest women. From there he works the doors of the world’s best known clubs, shamelessly consuming the drugs he confiscates from others, before going on to work security for some of the biggest names in music like Madonna and U2.

In the 50s, gays took on stereotypical roles David Vass did not embrace. “I wasn’t a top, bottom, butch or fem - I scared the shit out of all the homos I met!” Entertaining, humorous, and shocking, he reveals secrets of the record labels (how he became a mafia money runner), juicy, never-before-told anecdotes about legendary celebrities - Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, Golden Globe and Tony award winners that he technical directed. Over 100 World Class difficult personalities were kept in line by Vass. Many shared their secrets with him.

Enter the world of director and producer Don Mischer, who has notched a lifetime of history-making moments with Beyoncé and Baryshnikov, Willie Nelson and Muhammad Ali, Olympic flames, inaugurations, and Prince in the rain.

In the aftermath of a devastating, decade-long toxic relationship, 40-year-old gay filmmaker Steve Balderson embarks on a captivating journey—the Year of the Whore. This provocative memoir unveils the rollercoaster of his sexual reawakening as he navigates a labyrinth of intense love affairs, riveting career milestones, and soul-stirring transformations.