Annette Insdorf | |
|---|---|
 Insdorf, right, at the 2012 Telluride Film Festival | |
| Born | c.1950 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Film historian, author |
| Spouse | Mark Ethan (m. 1999) |
Annette Insdorf (born c. 1950) is an American film historian, author and interviewer, who currently serves as host of Reel Pieces. [1]
Born in Paris to Polish Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, [2] Insdorf and her family moved to New York when she was three years old. Initially desiring to be a performer, Insdorf attended Juilliard's singing program, however upon her parents encouragement, she instead went to Queens College where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts in 1972, as well as her PhD from Yale University in 1975.
Insdorf is a frequent panelist at various film festivals, most consistently at the annual Telluride Film Festival, and often hosted annual coverage of the Cannes Film Festival alongside Roger Ebert. [3] [4] [5] [6] Insdorf has written numerous books on various cinema-related topics, including on filmmakers François Truffaut and Philip Kaufman. [7] In 2018, she was awarded the Mel Novikoff Award at the 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival. [8] Telluride awarded Insdorf with its Special Medal in 2021. [9]
Insdorf made an appearance in PBS's Woody Allen: A Documentary (2011) and HBO's Spielberg (2017). [10]
François Roland Truffaut was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. With a career of more than 25 years, he is an icon of the French film industry.
Schindler's List is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel Schindler's Ark by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film follows Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who saved more than a thousand mostly Polish–Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II. It stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as SS officer Amon Göth, and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern.
The 400 Blows is a 1959 French coming-of-age drama film, and the directorial debut of François Truffaut. The film, shot in the anamorphic format DyaliScope, stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, and Claire Maurier. One of the defining films of the French New Wave, it displays many of the characteristic traits of the movement. Written by Truffaut and Marcel Moussy, the film is about Antoine Doinel, a misunderstood adolescent in Paris who struggles with his parents and teachers due to his rebellious behavior. Filmed on location in Paris and Honfleur, it is the first in a series of five films in which Léaud plays the semi-autobiographical character.
The Story of Adèle H. is a 1975 French historical drama film directed by François Truffaut, and starring Isabelle Adjani, Bruce Robinson, and Sylvia Marriott. Written by Truffaut, Jean Gruault, and Suzanne Schiffman, the film is about Adèle Hugo, the daughter of writer Victor Hugo, whose obsessive unrequited love for a military officer leads to her downfall. The story is based on Adèle Hugo's diaries. Filming took place on location in Guernsey and Senegal.
Day for Night is a 1973 romantic comedy-drama film co-written and directed by François Truffaut, starring Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Truffaut himself. The original French title, La Nuit américaine, refers to the French name for the filmmaking process whereby sequences filmed outdoors in daylight are shot with a filter over the camera lens or also using film stock balanced for tungsten (indoor) light and underexposed to appear as if they are taking place at night. In English, the technique is called day for night.
The Double Life of Veronique is a 1991 drama film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and starring Irène Jacob. Written by Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, the film explores the themes of identity, love, and human intuition through the characters of Weronika, a Polish choir soprano, and her double, Véronique, a French music teacher. Despite not knowing each other, the two women share a mysterious and emotional bond that transcends language and geography.
The Night Porter is a 1974 English-language Italian erotic psychological war drama film. Directed and co-written by Liliana Cavani, the film stars Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling, with Philippe Leroy, Gabriele Ferzetti, and Isa Miranda in supporting roles. Set in Vienna in 1957, the film centers on the sadomasochistic relationship between a former Nazi concentration camp officer (Bogarde) and one of his inmates (Rampling).
The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend. The 50th edition took place on August 31–September 4, 2023.
Shoot the Piano Player is a 1960 French New Wave crime drama film directed by François Truffaut that stars Charles Aznavour as the titular pianist with Marie Dubois, Nicole Berger, and Michèle Mercier as the three women in his life. It is based on the novel Down There by David Goodis.
Nights of Cabiria is a 1957 drama film co-written and directed by Federico Fellini. It stars Giulietta Masina as Cabiria, a prostitute living in Rome. The cast also features François Périer and Amedeo Nazzari. The film is based on a story by Fellini, who expanded it into a screenplay along with his co-writers Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Susan Seidelman is an American film director, producer, and writer. She first came to notice with Smithereens (1982), the earliest American independent feature to be screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Her next feature, Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), co-starred Madonna in her first film, and was named as one of 100 greatest films directed by women by the BBC; it resulted in a Cesar Award nomination. She-Devil (1989) starred Meryl Streep in her first starring comedic film role and Roseanne Barr in her first feature-film role. Her work on the short film The Dutch Master resulted in an Academy Award nomination. Seidelman's subsequent films mix comedy with drama, blending genres and pop-cultural references with a focus on women protagonists, particularly outsiders. She also works in television and directed the pilot episode of Sex and the City.
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1966 British dystopian drama film directed by François Truffaut and starring Julie Christie, Oskar Werner, and Cyril Cusack. Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury, the film takes place in a controlled society in an oppressive future, in which the government sends out firemen to destroy all literature to prevent revolution and thinking. This was Truffaut's first colour film and his only non French-language film. At the 27th Venice International Film Festival, Fahrenheit 451 was nominated for the Golden Lion.
The Green Room is a 1978 French historical drama film directed by François Truffaut, based on the 1895 short story "The Altar of the Dead" by Henry James, in which a man becomes obsessed with the dead people in his life and builds a memorial to them. It is also based on two other works by James: the 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle and the 1896 short story "The Way It Came". It was Truffaut's seventeenth feature film as a director and the third and last of his own films in which he acted in a leading role. It stars Truffaut, Nathalie Baye, Jean Dasté and Patrick Maléon.
The Wild Child is a 1970 French film by director François Truffaut. Featuring Jean-Pierre Cargol, François Truffaut, Françoise Seigner and Jean Dasté, it tells the story of a child who spends the first eleven or twelve years of his life with little or no human contact. It is based on the true events regarding the child Victor of Aveyron, reported by Dr. Jean Marc Gaspard Itard. The film sold nearly 1.5 million tickets in France.
The Last Metro is a 1980 historical drama film, written and directed by François Truffaut, that stars Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu.
The Silver Medallion is an award given by the Telluride Film Festival in recognition of achievements in the film industry.
Life Itself is a 2014 American biographical documentary film about Chicago film critic Roger Ebert, directed by Steve James and produced by Zak Piper, James and Garrett Basch. The film is based on Ebert's 2011 memoir of the same name. It premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was an official selection at the 67th Cannes Film Festival. The 41st Telluride Film Festival hosted a special screening of the film on August 28, 2014. Magnolia Pictures released the film theatrically in the United States and simultaneously via video on demand platforms on July 4, 2014.
A list of books and essays written by and about François Truffaut:
Paper Clips is a 2004 American documentary film written and produced by Joe Fab, and directed by Fab and Elliot Berlin, about the Paper Clips Project, in which a middle school class tries to collect 6 million paper clips to represent the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II.
Hitchcock/Truffaut is a 2015 French-American documentary film directed by Kent Jones.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
