The Making of Alternative Cinema

The massive investments made in Hollywood today mandate tight studio controls on mainstream cinema. As a result, one must often look to alternative outlets in order to see a movie intended primarily as art-or even as a sincere effort at entertainment-instead of as a simple source of revenue. Foreign and independent movies thus often play the role of bellwether for the Hollywood studios that are unable to experiment themselves: behind the look of the studio smash Sin City, for instance, was the rigorous pulp style of Road to Perdition; before the sadism and cynicism of many current thrillers and horror movies there was the work of Neil Labute; and where would Hollywood's plots be without the harsh, fragmented narratives of Guillermo Arriaga and Alejandro Inarritu? By looking at these films, and at the people who created them, we can obtain a clearer sense of what movies really are at heart, and what they may still want to become.

Elaborate measures are thus taken everywhere and at all points to maintain a grip on the public's imagination, but the more adept Hollywood becomes at giving the public what it wants, the less any given studio is able to say anything new or truly innovative. Inside of the United States, this means looking to independent films; outside of the United States, it means filtering through an enormous mass of movies and moviemakers.

In Volume 1 of this revealing set, Mario Falsetto presents extended interviews with nine of the most prominent independent film directors working in America today; while in Volume 2, Liza Bé ar gives prominent international filmmakers the opportunity to address essential issues surrounding creativity and production in a number of different geographical setting and contexts.

Volume 1
Dialogues with Independent Filmmakers
Mario Falsetto
Introduction
Sam Mendes, Boy Wonder Goes to Hollywood
Neil LaBute, Sexual Politics, Violence, and Mormons
John Dahl, Guns, Cars, and Fast Women: Film Noir and Other Genres
Gus Van Sant, Art and Commerce: A Constant Battle
Nancy Savoca, Ethnic Voices, Working Women, and the
Struggle to Make Movies
Anthony Minghella, Hollywood International, Epic Visions,
and a Love of Words
Alexander Payne, Nebraska Is a State of Mind
Michael Polish, Double Vision (and Imaginary Places)
Julie Taymor, Theater, Film, and the Power of the Imagination
Filmographies
Index


Volume 2
Beyond the Frame: Dialogues with World Filmmakers
Liza Bé ar
Foreword by Laurence A. Kardish
Introduction by Robin Andersen
Gleb Panfilov, Tema
Shawn Slovo, Writer, A World Apart
Chris Menges, Director, A World Apart
Atom Egoyan, Director, and Arsiné e Khanjian, Actor, Speaking Parts
Brigitte Rouan, Outremer [Overseas]
Gillian Armstrong, The Last Days of Chez Nous
Lucian Pintilié , An Unforgettable Summer
Chantal Akerman, On the Set in Brooklyn
Abel Ferrara, The Addiction
Jafar Panahi, The White Balloon
Marleen Gorris, Antonia's Line
Benjamin Ross, The Young Poisoner's Handbook
Nicole Holofcener, Walking and Talking
Karim Dridi, Bye-Bye
Patrice Leconte, Ridicule
Milos Forman, The People vs. Larry Flynt
Jan Sverak, Kolya
Judy Davis, Children of the Revolution
Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Gabbeh
Cé dric Klapisch, Chacun Cherche Son Chat
Miguel Arteta, Star Maps
Masayuki Suo, Shall We Dance?
Shirley Barrett, Love Serenade
Rupert Graves, Profile
Jim Jarmusch, Year of the Horse
Alain Berliner, Ma Vie en Rose
Takeshi Kitano, Sonatine and Hana-Bi [Fireworks]
Wayne Wang, Chinese Box
John Hurt, Love and Death on Long Island
Sherman Alexie, Smoke Signals
Michael Winterbottom, Welcome to Sarajevo
Samira Makhmalbaf, The Apple
Samira Makhmalbaf, Blackboards
Fernanda Montenegro, Central Station
Catherine Breillat, Romance
Hayao Miyazaki, Princess Mononoke
Zhang Yimou, Not One Less
Franç ois Ozon, Criminal Lovers
Franç ois Ozon, Swimming Pool
Abbas Kiarostami, The Wind Will Carry Us
Abbas Kiarostami, ABC Africa
Wong Kar-wai, In the Mood for Love
Alejandro Gonzá lez Iñ á rritu, Amores Perros
Agnè s Varda, The Gleaners and I
Barbet Schroeder, Our Lady of the Assassins
Jacques Rivette, Va Savoir
Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Kandahar
Wang Xiaoshuai, Beijing Bicycle
Tsai Ming-liang, What Time Is It There?
Laurent Cantet, L'Emploi du Temps [Time Out]
Fabiá n Bielinsky, Nine Queens
Juan Carlos Cremata, Nada
Elia Suleiman, Divine Intervention
Manoel de Oliveira, I'm Going Home
Denys Arcand, Barbarian Invasions
Ra'anan Alexandrowicz, James' Journey to Jerusalem
Alan Mak, Andrew Lau, Infernal Affairs
Ousmane Sembè ne, Moolaadé
Ousmane Sembè ne, Transcript
Michael Winterbottom, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
Bruno Dumont, Twentynine Palms
Zhang Yimou, Hero
Yacef Sâ adi, The Battle of Algiers
Appendix 1:Filmakers by Continent and Country of Origin
Appendix 2: First Feature Films
Index