Directors: Slow Cinema Movement
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Béla Tarr was born on 21 July 1955 in Pécs, Hungary. He is a producer and director, known for Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), The Turin Horse (2011) and Satantango (1994). He is married to Ágnes Hranitzky.- Director
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Born in Kuching, Malaysia, he graduated from the Drama and Cinema Department of the Chinese Cultural University of Taiwan and worked as a theatrical producer and TV director. His second feature film, Vive L'Amour (1994), won the Golden Lion (best picture) at the 1994 Venice Film Festival. His idiosyncratic oeuvre continues to enthrall audiences worldwide.- Producer
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Carlos Reygadas was born on 10 October 1971 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico. He is a producer and director, known for Silent Light (2007), Japan (2002) and Post Tenebras Lux (2012). He is married to Natalia López.- Director
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Lisandro Alonso was born on 2 June 1975 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a director and writer, known for La libertad (2001), Los Muertos (2004) and Jauja (2014).- Writer
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Writer, director, and producer Nicolas Winding Refn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1970, to Anders Refn, a film director and editor, and Vibeke Winding (née Tuxen), a cinematographer. Just before he turned 11, in 1981, he moved to New York with his parents, where he lived out his teen years. New York quickly became his city and soon began to shape Nicolas' future.
At seventeen, Nicolas moved back to his native Copenhagen to complete his high-school Education. After graduation, he swiftly flew back to New York, where he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. However, this education was cut short when Nicolas threw a desk at a classroom wall and was expelled from the Academy. Consequently, he applied to the Danish Film School and was readily accepted. This education too was to be short-lived, though, as one month prior to the start of the semester, Nicolas dropped out.
A short film Nicolas had written, directed, and starred in was aired on an obscure cable TV channel and lead to the offer of a life-time. Nicolas was spotted and offered 3.2 million kroners to turn the short into a feature. At only twenty-four, Nicolas had written and directed the extremely violent and uncompromising Pusher (1996), which became a cult phenomenon and won Nicolas instant international critical acclaim. The success of his debut spurred him to push the boundaries of his creative filmmaking further, which resulted in the close-to-the-edge and intricately gritty Bleeder (1999). Highly stylized and focused on introverted reactions to outward situations, this film was a marking point for the shaping of Nicolas's future career. The movie was selected for the 1999 Venice International Film Festival as well as winning the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize in Sarajevo.
Nicolas's fourth feature, the much-anticipated Fear X (2003) was also his first foray into English-language movies. Starring the award-winning actor John Turturro, "Fear X" made its world premiere at the Sundance Film festival. However, Fear X divided critics and it flopped, which made Nicolas Winding Refn broke and in debt.
Having to provide for his family and paying his debt, he returned to Denmark to revisit "Pusher." Refn was reluctant to revisit his past success but decided that he could both make commercially viable and artistically pleasing films. In just two years he managed to write, direct and produce the two sequels. Pusher II (2004) and Pusher III (2005) sealed the box and success of the internationally renowned "Pusher" trilogy. In 2005, the Toronto Film Festival held a "Pusher" retrospective showing all three features cementing its worldwide phenomenon.
In 2006 Nicolas embarked on a second English-language (and first digital) feature called Valhalla Rising (2009), which was inspired by a story his mother read to him at the age of five about a father and son who embark on a trip to the moon. Not recalling the ending of this story has been a long time fascination of Nicolas's with the unknown. During the pre-production on "Valhalla Rising," his long time collaborator and friend, Rupert Preston, urged him into accepting an offer to write and direct Bronson (2008), an ultra-violent, surreal, and escapist film following the real-life landmarks and self-entrapment of Charles Bronson, Britain's most notorious criminal. Before its cinematic release, "Bronson" was making waves inside and outside the film industry. The 2009 Sundance Film Festival selected the blistering film for its World Cinema Dramatic Competition and it soon became the talk of the festival. With such a prestigious premiere, "Bronson" went on to be selected for other major international film festivals and reap strong box-office rewards. But, even with such a buzz surrounding the film, no one could predict how the British press would bite at "Bronson's" bit. The content was close to the knuckle, the subject matter controversial, but Nicolas's take on this was even more inspired leading him to be labeled by the British media as the next great European auteur.
With such critical acclaim, Nicolas's reputation as a producer, writer and director was solidly reaffirmed. Nicolas and his wife Liv Corfixen were the subjects of an acclaimed documentary, Gambler (2006), which premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2005. In addition, Nicolas already received two lifetime-achievement awards (one from the Taipei International Film festival in 2006 and the second from the Valencia International Film Festival in 2007), and it was the winner of the Emerging Master Award from the Philadelphia International Film Festival 2005.- Director
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Pedro Costa was born on 30 December 1958 in Lisbon, Portugal. He is a director and writer, known for Horse Money (2014), Vitalina Varela (2019) and Colossal Youth (2006).- Writer
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Born in Jinan, Shangdong, China, He studied Film Directing at the Beijing Film Academy. Following two short films and several novels, An Elephant Sitting Still was his first feature-length film. This is a four-hour portrait of a society of egoists. Tragically, it will also be the final chapter in his legacy. On October 12, 2017, the artist took his own life at age 29.- Director
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Apichatpong Weerasethakul (b. 1970, Bangkok) grew up in Khon Kaen, a city in the north east of Thailand. He has a degree in Architecture from Khon Kaen University and a Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has been making films and videos since the early 90s. He is one of the few filmmakers in Thailand who have worked outside the strict Thai studio system. In his films, he experiments with certain elements found in the dramatic plot structure of Thai television and radio programs, comics and old films. He finds his inspiration in small towns around the country. In his work, he often uses non-professional actors and improvised dialogue in exploring the shifting boundaries between documentary and fiction.
In 2000, he completed his first feature, Mysterious Object at Noon (2000), a documentary that has been screened at many international festivals and received enthusiastic reviews and awards as well as being listed among the best films of the year 2000 by Film Comment and the Village Voice. He is active in promoting experimental and independent films through Kick the Machine, the company he founded in 1999. He is currently working on several video projects and a new feature, Tropical Malady.- Writer
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Lav Diaz was born on 30 December 1958 in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao, Mindanao, Philippines. He is a writer and director, known for The Woman Who Left (2016), Season of the Devil (2018) and From What Is Before (2014).- Producer
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Nuri Bilge Ceylan is a Turkish filmmaker whose introspective and visually stunning films have garnered international acclaim. His career trajectory, marked by a shift from engineering to filmmaking, is a testament to his dedication to artistic expression and exploration of the human condition.
Ceylan's early interest in image and visual arts was nurtured during his studies at Bogaziçi University. His involvement in the photography club and exposure to cinema through film classes and screenings at the Film Society ignited his passion for filmmaking. After graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering and completing his military service, Ceylan chose to pursue his cinematic dreams, studying film at Mimar Sinan University while working as a professional photographer.
Ceylan's first foray into filmmaking was as an actor in a short film directed by his friend Mehmet Eryilmaz. He soon transitioned behind the camera, directing his debut short film, "Koza" (1995), which made history as the first Turkish short film selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival. This early success set the stage for his "provincial trilogy": "Kasaba" (1997), "Mayis Sikintisi" (1999), and "Uzak" (2002). In these films, Ceylan took on multiple roles, showcasing his meticulous attention to detail and his ability to craft deeply personal and evocative stories. "Uzak" (2002) won the Grand Prix and Best Actor awards at Cannes, catapulting Ceylan to international recognition.
Ceylan's subsequent films continued to explore the complexities of human relationships and the nuances of emotional landscapes. "Iklimler" (2006) won the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes, while "Uç Maymun" (2008) earned him the Best Director award. His masterpiece "Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da" (2011) won the Grand Prix at Cannes, solidifying his reputation as a filmmaker of exceptional talent. "Kis Uykusu" (2014), his seventh feature film, garnered the Palme d'Or and the FIPRESCI prize at Cannes, further cementing his position as a leading figure in world cinema.
In recent years, Ceylan has continued to challenge himself with ambitious projects. His 2023 film "Kuru Otlar Ustüne" ("About Dry Grasses") is a visually stunning and emotionally charged drama that explores themes of isolation, disillusionment, and the search for meaning in life. The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Actress award for Merve Dizdar.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's films are characterized by their slow pace, meticulous attention to detail, and exploration of complex emotional states. His visual style, often inspired by his background in photography, creates a sense of atmosphere and mood that draws viewers into the world of his characters. Ceylan's unflinching portrayal of human relationships, combined with his poetic visual language, have earned him a dedicated following and a place among the most respected filmmakers of our time.- Writer
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Michelangelo Frammartino was born in 1968 in Milan, Lombardy, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for The Hole (2021), Il dono (2003) and Le Quattro Volte (2010).- Writer
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Abbas Kiarostami was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1940. He graduated from university with a degree in fine arts before starting work as a graphic designer. He then joined the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, where he started a film section, and this started his career as a filmmaker at the age of 30. Since then he has made many movies and has become one of the most important figures in contemporary Iranian film. He is also a major figure in the arts world, and has had numerous gallery exhibitions of his photography, short films and poetry. He is an iconic figure for what he has done, and he has achieved it all by believing in the arts and the creativity of his mind.- Producer
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Of the ten films that Hsiao-Hsien Hou directed between 1980 and 1989, seven received best film or best director awards from prestigious international films festivals in Venice, Berlin, Hawaii, and the Festival of the Three Continents in Nantes. In a 1988 worldwide critics' poll, Hou was championed as "one of the three directors most crucial to the future of cinema."
Hou's birthplace, a county in Kuangtung Province, had been well-known as an intellectual center in China. In 1948, his family moved to Taiwan and, like all children raised there, he went through an extremely demanding educational system. In 1969, he studied film at the National Taiwan Arts Academy. After graduation in 1972, he worked briefly as a salesman. Later he began his film career as a scriptwriter and assistant director.
Hou's films are often concerned with his experiences of growing up in rural Taiwan in the 1950s and 1960s. The 1950s marked a time in which refugee families from the mainland were struggling painfully for survival, while the 1960s saw the beginning of the most significant social change in modern Taiwan. The economic boom of that period meant the beginning of Western-style industrialization and urbanization. The normal frustrations of growing up were aggravated by these complicated changes, and Hou's films are intimate expressions of those experiences.
His emotionally charged work is replete with highly nostalgic images and beautiful compositions; their power lies in his total identification with the past and the fate of families who suffered through difficult times. His stories, often written in collaboration with scriptwriters T'ien-wen Chu and Nien-Jen Wu, depict the complex intertwining of the different strands that shape the lives of individuals. In a poetic yet relaxed style, they reflect a deep sympathy and a profound humanism.- Director
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He was born with a disability because of an anatomic defect of his leg, in 1951 in Podorvikha village in Siberian Russia. His father was a Red Army veteran of WW2. One of most important contemporary filmmakers, Sokurov worked extensively in television and later graduated from the prestigious film school, VGIK, in 1979. His films often created tensions with the Soviet authorities but he received great support from such outstanding film masters as Andrei Tarkovsky. Particularly, after the collapse of the regime, Sokurov's films started earning him numerous awards around the world. While most known for his feature films, Sokurov has directed over 20 interesting documentaries. His 2002 sensational "Russian Ark" is a historic achievement that will be watched and talked about by many generations.
Sokurov has collected a number of awards at Berlin, Cannes, Moscow, Toronto, Locarno and European Film Awards. He lives and works in Russia.- Director
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Sergio Caballero is the co-director and art director of the Sónar, Barcelona's International Festival of Advanced Music and New Media Art. His creativity and artistic restlessness has manifested itself across many creative fields, such as the composition of electronic music, cinema, visual arts and conceptual art, and has found its platform across the media in the ever controversial and powerful Sónar advertising campaigns.
Sónar is the festival for advanced music and new media art that held in Barcelona for the past 20 years and in other cities across the world since 2002. Along with Enric Palau and Ricard Robles, Sergio Caballero is founder, co-director, and responsible for the festivals image.
Sergio Caballero, along with Marcel.lí Antúnez and Pau Nubiola, founded the artistic group,"Los Rinos" (1985-1992), whose prime objectives focused on the graffiti circle. Later their activity extended itself to other formats, from painting actions to video performance, concerts and wall installations. As an example of the latter, Rinodigestió (1987, Digestion of a Rhino) comes to mind, a system of wooden and glass boxes connected together and containing organic matter in a state of decomposition. In 2018 Sonar celebrated its 25th anniversary with the exhibition "Ni Flyers, ni posters: 25 años de imagen Sónar", an experiential journey through the image of the festival at the Centre d'Art Tecla Sala in L'Hospitalet del Llobregat.
Along with Enric Palau he created the group "Jumo", which was solidly linked to the Barcelona electronic music scene of the 1990's. From their recording studio, "Jumolándia" came many collaborations with other artists or groups such as; Victor Nubla, La Fura dels Baus, Zush o Peanut Pie, among others. Since 2004 Sergio Caballero works in conjunction with the composer Pedro Alcalde, with whom he has created a series of musical pieces for the 'Compañía Nacional de Danza' directed by the choreographer Nacho Duato. At the moment they are preparing their second piece for orchestra that will be released in 2013.
In the field of visual arts, he has various individual exhibitions to his name, such as; "Sergio Caballero Famoso en el Mundo Entero" (Sergio Caballero, Famous the World Over) or "El Clamor de la Humanidad me Oprime por su Tumulto me Veo Privado del Sueño" ("Humanity's Clamour Opresses Me With It's Uproar that ICan't See Myself Sleeping") at Fundación "La Caixa". All exhibitions are of incorruptible daring and clear will to question. His most recent exhibition in 2010, at the gallery 'Mutt' Barcelona, entitled "Abstracción en el establo" (Abstraction In The Stable) is a re-take on academic, abstract expressionism in painting, in this case sharing authorship of the works with a Dutch purebred (horse).
"Finisterrae" was his first full-length feature film, in which he uses a style completely personal to himself, filtering his inspirations, his obsessions and his particular sense of humor. The film was awarded the "Tiger Award" at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), at the "Ars Independent" of Katowice, Poland, and selected in more than 60 festivals the world over. In 2014 he released his second feature film entitled "La Distancia", which premiered at the IFFR along with his short film "Ancha es Castilla/ N'importe quoi" which was part of the Sónar festival image that same year. In 2019, the short film "Je te tiens", starring the iconic Spanish actress Angela Molina, was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, as part of the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.- Producer
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Cristian Mungiu was born on 27 April 1968 in Iasi, Romania. He is a producer and writer, known for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), Graduation (2016) and Beyond the Hills (2012).- Director
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Gus Green Van Sant Jr. is an American filmmaker, painter, screenwriter, photographer and musician from Louisville, Kentucky who is known for directing films such as Good Will Hunting, the 1998 remake of Psycho, Gerry, Elephant, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, Milk, Last Days, Finding Forrester, Promised Land, Drugstore Cowboy and Mala Noche.- Director
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The films of Claire Denis frequently explore the fragile connections between people and the ways in which the most seemingly inconsequential relationship can have life-changing effects. At the heart of Denis' cinema is a fascination with the delights and difficulties of belonging and otherness, the gravity and gift of foreignness. Often revolving around reactions to the intrusion of the other, be it a stranger or foreigner, Denis' films insist on the vital necessity of the unusual to coexist within the "normal" world. In films such as I Can't Sleep (1994) and Nénette and Boni (1996), Denis captures the mercurial and instant shifts in tone, from the pleasurably sensual to the menacing or the simply unaccountable, caused by the intrusion of the strange into the fabric of the everyday. In Denis' films one often feels that all is well even as worlds collide and collapse or, conversely, that a grave challenge underlies the seemingly calm moments. While Denis' childhood in French colonial Africa is reflected most directly in the African setting shared by her debut feature Chocolat (1988) and best-known film, Beau Travail (1999), this encounter with the intimacies and injustices of colonialism resounds throughout much of her work. Also shaping Denis' unique vision are the apprenticeships she served, just out of film school, under a variety of renowned directors, including Jacques Rivette, Wim Wenders, Dusan Makavejev and Jim Jarmusch - an eclectic company that is itself suggestive of the unique juxtaposition of careful craft and seeming casualness within Denis' work. Denis has often spoken of her shock as a young woman at discovering the novels of Faulkner that have exerted such a major influence over postwar French cinema. For Denis, Faulkner "was a plunge into the senses, into terror and the pain of his characters." These words describe Denis' films as well. But whatever terror and pain her characters may sometimes experience is outmeasured by the depths of Denis' deep affection for them and by her curiosity in their experiences of pleasure as well as fear. Even in the unsettling Trouble Every Day (2001), the not-infrequent catastrophes in Denis' films provoke a sense of wonder at, and even delight in, the sheer weight of existence.- Director
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Kelly Reichardt was born and raised in Miami-Dade Country, Florida, to a family of police officers. She had an interest in photography from a very young age. She started by using her father's camera, which he used for photographing crime scenes. She went to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. In the summer of 2005, Reichardt directed Old Joy (2006), which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. It was the first American film to win the Tiger award at the Rotterdam Film Festival and opened at the Film Forum in New York City. Reichardt's first feature, River of Grass (1994), a sun-drenched noir that was shot in her home town of Dade County, was cited as one of the best films of 1995 by the Boston Globe, Village Voice, Film Comment, the New York Daily News, Paper Magazine, and the San Francisco Guardian.- Director
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Víctor Erice was born on 30 June 1940 in Karrantza, Vizcaya, País Vasco, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for Close Your Eyes (2023), El Sur (1983) and The Spirit of the Beehive (1973).- Director
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Born in 1966 in Salta in the North of Argentina,Lucrecia Martel settled down in Buenos Aires where she attended the ENERC (National Film School). She started by directing a few shorts among which Historias Breves I: Rey muerto (1995), which garnered several awards in the international film festival circuit. From 1995 to 1998, she made a series of documentaries for TV as well as a children's TV programme, hailed by the Argentinian press for its unusual dark humor. From 2001 until today, Lucrecia Martel has managed to make three very personal feature films, The Swamp (2001), The Holy Girl (2004) and The Headless Woman (2008), in which she explores her favorite theme, troubled minds.- Writer
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Bruno Dumont was born on 14 March 1958 in Bailleul, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. He is a writer and director, known for Li'l Quinquin (2014), The Life of Jesus (1997) and Camille Claudel 1915 (2013).- Director
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Chantal Akerman was born on 6 June 1950 in Brussels, Belgium. She was a director and writer, known for The Meetings of Anna (1978), Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) and I, You, He, She (1974). She was married to Sonia Wieder-Atherton. She died on 5 October 2015 in Paris, France.- Director
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Roy Arne Lennart Andersson is a Swedish film director, best known for his distinctive style of absurdist humor and melancholic depictions of human life. His personal style is characterized by long takes, and stiff caricaturing of Swedish culture and grotesque. Over his career Andersson earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival and Venice International Film Festival.
Andersson spent much of his professional life working on advertisement spots, directing over 400 commercials and two short films; directing six feature-length films in six decades. He made his feature film debut with A Swedish Love Story (1970) followed by Giliap (1975). Anderson received the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize for Songs from the Second Floor (2000). His film A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) won the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion. He other notable films include You, the Living (2007), and About Endlessness (2019).- Director
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Theo Angelopoulos began to study law in Athens but broke up his studies to go to the Sorbonne in Paris in order to study literature. When he had finished his studies, he wanted to attend the School of Cinema at Paris but decided instead to go back to Greece. There he worked as a journalist and critic for the newspaper "Demokratiki Allaghi" until it was banned by the military after a coup d'état. Now unemployed, he decided to make his first movie, Anaparastasi (1970). Internationally successful was his trilogy about the history of Greece from 1930 to 1970 consisting of Days of '36 (1972), The Travelling Players (1975), and Oi kynigoi (1977). After the end of the dictatorship in Greece, Angelopoulos went to Italy, where he worked with RAI (and more money). His movies then became less political.- Writer
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Corneliu Porumboiu was born on 14 September 1975 in Vaslui, Romania. He is a writer and director, known for 12:08 East of Bucharest (2006), The Whistlers (2019) and Police, Adjective (2009).- Writer
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Rafi Pitts' films have attained acclaim and awards around the globe. Pitts' first feature, Season Five (1997), premiered in the Venice Film Festival. His second, Sanam (2000) was hailed by French critics and compared to The 400 Blows (1959). In 2003, Pitts presented his controversial feature documentary, Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty (2003) in the Official Selection of the Locarno Film Festival . It's Winter (2006) premiered in the Berlin Competition, and one year later, the Seattle International Film Festival honored Pitts with the Emerging Masters Award for his work. In 2010, Pitts' fifth feature The Hunter (2010) was also nominated for the Berlin Golden Bear as well as Best Actor for his performance in the leading role. In 2012 Ben Affleck invited Pitts to join him as an actor as well as his personal consultant on the feature film Argo (2012), which went on to win the Oscar for Best Motion Picture the following year. In 2016 Pitts premiered Soy Nero (2016) in the Berlin Film Festival and for the third time running he was nominated for the Golden Bear.
Born 1967 in Iran, Pitts spent his childhood in Tehran, where he lived in a basement flat underneath a post-production studio. During the war between Iran and Iraq, in 1981, he fled the country and moved to Britain. In 1991 Pitts graduated from Harrow College - Polytechnic of Central London with a BA (Hons) Degree in Film and Photography. His first short, In Exile (1991), was presented the same year at the London International Film Festival. In the 90's, Pitts moved to Paris and worked on films by Leos Carax, Jacques Doillon and Jean-Luc Godard.