British filmmaker Mike Leigh is known for his unusual directorial techniques. Using improvisation to shape his characters, dialogues, and storylines, Leigh usually begins his films with a rough outline of possible thematic directions and plot developments. Choosing not the disclose any information regarding plot or character to his cast members, Leigh introduces the actors to […]
“Everyone could play one role perfectly: himself.” – Vittorio De Sica In Italy, fascism and cinema had always been in a strange relationship. After millions of deaths, years of war and violence; fascism left only two positive things behind: Venice Film Festival and Cinecitta. Fascism, as a consequence of WWII, left thousands of people homeless in […]
Germany has been a vital contributor to the history of cinema right from the beginning, hitting the ground running when the first cinema for a paying audience in the world was opened in 1895 in Berlin. It was, however, during the interwar period that the social atmosphere relaxed and inspired film-makers created the Golden Age […]
Spain has a variety of unique filmmakers, but very few have resonated as profusely in the international film market as Pedro Almodóvar has. With 19 films under his belt, as well as awards from Cannes, Venice, and the Oscars, Almodóvar has crafted a reputation that is evoked by his often-used tagline: “A film by Almodóvar.” […]
Billy Wilder was born in Austria in 1906 and after a brief career in Berlin as a journalist, he began to work as a scriptwriter in the active German film community of the 1920’s. As many others did, the Jewish Wilder emigrated to America in 1933 when Adolph Hitler came to power, and he arrived […]
Austrian film director and screenwriter, Michael Haneke is one of Europe’s most prominent and controversial auteurs working today. He began his career in television and theatre and it wasn’t until late in his career at the age of 33 that he began working in film, with his 1989 cinematic debut Der siebente Kontinent [The Seventh […]