Greatest Directors--K
This is a ranked list of directors whose last name begins with a "K."
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After training as a painter (he storyboards his films as full-scale paintings), Kurosawa entered the film industry in 1936 as an assistant director, eventually making his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata (1943). Within a few years, Kurosawa had achieved sufficient stature to allow him greater creative freedom. Drunken Angel (1948) was the first film he made without extensive studio interference, and marked his first collaboration with Toshirô Mifune. In the coming decades, the two would make 16 movies together, and Mifune became as closely associated with Kurosawa's films as was John Wayne with the films of Kurosawa's idol, John Ford. After working in a wide range of genres, Kurosawa made his international breakthrough film Rashomon (1950) in 1950. It won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, and first revealed the richness of Japanese cinema to the West. The next few years saw the low-key, touching Ikiru (1952) (Living), the epic Seven Samurai (1954), the barbaric, riveting Shakespeare adaptation Throne of Blood (1957), and a fun pair of samurai comedies Yojimbo (1961) and Sanjuro (1962). After a lean period in the late 1960s and early 1970s, though, Kurosawa attempted suicide. He survived, and made a small, personal, low-budget picture with Dodes'ka-den (1970), a larger-scale Russian co-production Dersu Uzala (1975) and, with the help of admirers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, the samurai tale Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980), which Kurosawa described as a dry run for Ran (1985), an epic adaptation of Shakespeare's "King Lear." He continued to work into his eighties with the more personal Dreams (1990), Rhapsody in August (1991) and Madadayo (1993). Kurosawa's films have always been more popular in the West than in his native Japan, where critics have viewed his adaptations of Western genres and authors (William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Maxim Gorky and Evan Hunter) with suspicion - but he's revered by American and European film-makers, who remade Rashomon (1950) as The Outrage (1964), Seven Samurai (1954), as The Magnificent Seven (1960), Yojimbo (1961), as A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and The Hidden Fortress (1958), as Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).- Director
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Stanley Kubrick was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Sadie Gertrude (Perveler) and Jacob Leonard Kubrick, a physician. His family were Jewish immigrants (from Austria, Romania, and Russia). Stanley was considered intelligent, despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would produce better academic performance, Kubrick's father sent him in 1940 to Pasadena, California, to stay with his uncle, Martin Perveler. Returning to the Bronx in 1941 for his last year of grammar school, there seemed to be little change in his attitude or his results. Hoping to find something to interest his son, Jack introduced Stanley to chess, with the desired result. Kubrick took to the game passionately, and quickly became a skilled player. Chess would become an important device for Kubrick in later years, often as a tool for dealing with recalcitrant actors, but also as an artistic motif in his films.
Jack Kubrick's decision to give his son a camera for his thirteenth birthday would be an even wiser move: Kubrick became an avid photographer, and would often make trips around New York taking photographs which he would develop in a friend's darkroom. After selling an unsolicited photograph to Look Magazine, Kubrick began to associate with their staff photographers, and at the age of seventeen was offered a job as an apprentice photographer.
In the next few years, Kubrick had regular assignments for "Look", and would become a voracious movie-goer. Together with friend Alexander Singer, Kubrick planned a move into film, and in 1950 sank his savings into making the documentary Day of the Fight (1951). This was followed by several short commissioned documentaries (Flying Padre (1951), and (The Seafarers (1953), but by attracting investors and hustling chess games in Central Park, Kubrick was able to make Fear and Desire (1952) in California.
Filming this movie was not a happy experience; Kubrick's marriage to high school sweetheart Toba Metz did not survive the shooting. Despite mixed reviews for the film itself, Kubrick received good notices for his obvious directorial talents. Kubrick's next two films Killer's Kiss (1955) and The Killing (1956) brought him to the attention of Hollywood, and in 1957 he directed Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory (1957). Douglas later called upon Kubrick to take over the production of Spartacus (1960), by some accounts hoping that Kubrick would be daunted by the scale of the project and would thus be accommodating. This was not the case, however: Kubrick took charge of the project, imposing his ideas and standards on the film. Many crew members were upset by his style: cinematographer Russell Metty complained to producers that Kubrick was taking over his job. Kubrick's response was to tell him to sit there and do nothing. Metty complied, and ironically was awarded the Academy Award for his cinematography.
Kubrick's next project was to direct Marlon Brando in One-Eyed Jacks (1961), but negotiations broke down and Brando himself ended up directing the film himself. Disenchanted with Hollywood and after another failed marriage, Kubrick moved permanently to England, from where he would make all of his subsequent films. Despite having obtained a pilot's license, Kubrick was rumored to be afraid of flying.
Kubrick's first UK film was Lolita (1962), which was carefully constructed and guided so as to not offend the censorship boards which at the time had the power to severely damage the commercial success of a film. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) was a big risk for Kubrick; before this, "nuclear" was not considered a subject for comedy. Originally written as a drama, Kubrick decided that too many of the ideas he had written were just too funny to be taken seriously. The film's critical and commercial success allowed Kubrick the financial and artistic freedom to work on any project he desired. Around this time, Kubrick's focus diversified and he would always have several projects in various stages of development: "Blue Moon" (a story about Hollywood's first pornographic feature film), "Napoleon" (an epic historical biography, abandoned after studio losses on similar projects), "Wartime Lies" (based on the novel by Louis Begley), and "Rhapsody" (a psycho-sexual thriller).
The next film he completed was a collaboration with sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is hailed by many as the best ever made; an instant cult favorite, it has set the standard and tone for many science fiction films that followed. Kubrick followed this with A Clockwork Orange (1971), which rivaled Lolita (1962) for the controversy it generated - this time not only for its portrayal of sex, but also of violence. Barry Lyndon (1975) would prove a turning point in both his professional and private lives. His unrelenting demands of commitment and perfection of cast and crew had by now become legendary. Actors would be required to perform dozens of takes with no breaks. Filming a story in Ireland involving military, Kubrick received reports that the IRA had declared him a possible target. Production was promptly moved out of the country, and Kubrick's desire for privacy and security resulted in him being considered a recluse ever since.
Having turned down directing a sequel to The Exorcist (1973), Kubrick made his own horror film: The Shining (1980). Again, rumors circulated of demands made upon actors and crew. Stephen King (whose novel the film was based upon) reportedly didn't like Kubrick's adaptation (indeed, he would later write his own screenplay which was filmed as The Shining (1997).)
Kubrick's subsequent work has been well spaced: it was seven years before Full Metal Jacket (1987) was released. By this time, Kubrick was married with children and had extensively remodeled his house. Seen by one critic as the dark side to the humanist story of Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987) continued Kubrick's legacy of solid critical acclaim, and profit at the box office.
In the 1990s, Kubrick began an on-again/off-again collaboration with Brian Aldiss on a new science fiction film called "Artificial Intelligence (AI)", but progress was very slow, and was backgrounded until special effects technology was up to the standard the Kubrick wanted.
Kubrick returned to his in-development projects, but encountered a number of problems: "Napoleon" was completely dead, and "Wartime Lies" (now called "The Aryan Papers") was abandoned when Steven Spielberg announced he would direct Schindler's List (1993), which covered much of the same material.
While pre-production work on "AI" crawled along, Kubrick combined "Rhapsody" and "Blue Movie" and officially announced his next project as Eyes Wide Shut (1999), starring the then-married Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. After two years of production under unprecedented security and privacy, the film was released to a typically polarized critical and public reception; Kubrick claimed it was his best film to date.
Special effects technology had matured rapidly in the meantime, and Kubrick immediately began active work on A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), but tragically suffered a fatal heart attack in his sleep on March 7th, 1999.
After Kubrick's death, Spielberg revealed that the two of them were friends that frequently communicated discreetly about the art of filmmaking; both had a large degree of mutual respect for each other's work. "AI" was frequently discussed; Kubrick even suggested that Spielberg should direct it as it was more his type of project. Based on this relationship, Spielberg took over as the film's director and completed the last Kubrick project.
How much of Kubrick's vision remains in the finished project -- and what he would think of the film as eventually released -- will be the final great unanswerable mysteries in the life of this talented and private filmmaker.- Actor
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Joseph Frank Keaton was born on October 4, 1895 in Piqua, Kansas, to Joe Keaton and Myra Keaton. Joe and Myra were Vaudevillian comedians with a popular, ever-changing variety act, giving Keaton an eclectic and interesting upbringing. In the earliest days on stage, they traveled with a medicine show that included family friend, illusionist Harry Houdini. Keaton himself verified the origin of his nickname "Buster", given to him by Houdini, when at the age of three, fell down a flight of stairs and was picked up and dusted off by Houdini, who said to Keaton's father Joe, also nearby, that the fall was 'a buster'. Savvy showman Joe Keaton liked the nickname, which has stuck for more than 100 years.
At the age of four, Keaton had already begun acting with his parents on the stage. Their act soon gained the reputation as one of the roughest in the country, for their wild, physical antics on stage. It was normal for Joe to throw Buster around the stage, participate in elaborate, dangerous stunts to the reverie of audiences. After several years on the Vaudeville circuit, "The Three Keatons", toured until Keaton had to break up the act due to his father's increasing alcohol dependence, making him a show business veteran by the age of 21.
While in New York looking for work, a chance run-in with the wildly successful film star and director Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, resulted in Arbuckle inviting him to be in his upcoming short The Butcher Boy (1917), an appearance that launched Keaton's film career, and spawned a friendship that lasted until Arbuckle's sudden death in 1933. By 1920, after making several successful shorts together, Arbuckle moved on to features, and Keaton inherited his studio, allowing him the opportunity to begin producing his own films. By September 1921, tragedy touched Arbuckle's life by way of a scandal, where he was tried three times for the murder of Virginia Rapp. Although he was not guilty of the charges, and never convicted, he was unable to regain his status, and the viewing public would no longer tolerate his presence in film. Keaton stood by his friend and mentor through out the incident, supporting him financially, finding him directorial work, even risking his own budding reputation offering to testify on Arbuckle's behalf.
In 1921, Keaton also married his first wife, Natalie Talmadge under unusual circumstance that have never been fully clarified. Popular conjecture states that he was encouraged by Joseph M. Schenck to marry into the powerful Talmadge dynasty, that he himself was already a part of. The union bore Keaton two sons. Keaton's independent shorts soon became too limiting for the growing star, and after a string of popular films like One Week (1920), The Boat (1921) and Cops (1922), Keaton made the transition into feature films. His first feature, Three Ages (1923), was produced similarly to his short films, and was the dawning of a new era in comedic cinema, where it became apparent to Keaton that he had to put more focus on the story lines and characterization.
At the height of his popularity, he was making two features a year, and followed Ages with Our Hospitality (1923), The Navigator (1924) and The General (1926), the latter two he regarded as his best films. The most renowned of Keaton's comedies is Sherlock Jr. (1924), which used cutting edge special effects that received mixed reviews as critics and audiences alike had never seen anything like it, and did not know what to make of it. Modern day film scholars liken the story and effects to Christopher Nolan Inception (2010), for its high level concept and ground-breaking execution. Keaton's Civil War epic The General (1926) kept up his momentum when he gave audiences the biggest and most expensive sequence ever seen in film at the time. At its climax, a bridge collapses while a train is passing over it, sending the train into a river. This wowed audiences, but did little for its long-term financial success. Audiences did not respond well to the film, disliking the higher level of drama over comedy, and the main character being a Confederate soldier.
After a few more silent features, including College (1927) and Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928), Keaton was informed that his contract had been sold to MGM, by brother-in-law and producer Joseph M. Schenck. Keaton regarded the incident as the worst professional mistake he ever made, as it sent his career, legacy, and personal life into a vicious downward spiral for many years. His first film with MGM was The Cameraman (1928), which is regarded as one of his best silent comedies, but the release signified the loss of control Keaton would incur, never again regaining his film -making independence. He made one more silent film at MGM entitled Spite Marriage (1929) before the sound era arrived.
His first appearance in a film with sound was with the ensemble piece The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929), though despite the popularity of it and his previous MGM silents, MGM never allowed Keaton his own production unit, and increasingly reduced his creative control over his films. By 1932, his marriage to Natalie Talmadge had dissolved when she sued him for divorce, and in an effort to placate her, put up little resistance. This resulted in the loss of the home he had built for his family nicknamed "The Italian Villa", the bulk of his assets, and contact with his children. Natalie changed their last names from Keaton to Talmadge, and they were disallowed from speaking about their father or seeing him. About 10 years later, when they became of age, they rekindled the relationship with Keaton. His hardships in his professional and private life that had been slowly taking their toll, begun to culminate by the early 1930s resulting in his own dependence on alcohol, and sometimes violent and erratic behavior. Depressed, penniless, and out of control, he was fired by MGM by 1933, and became a full-fledged alcoholic.
After spending time in hospitals to attempt and treat his alcoholism, he met second wife Mae Scrivens, a nurse, and married her hastily in Mexico, only to end in divorce by 1935. After his firing, he made several low-budget shorts for Educational Pictures, and spent the next several years of his life fading out of public favor, and finding work where he could. His career was slightly reinvigorated when he produced the short Grand Slam Opera (1936), which many of his fans admire for giving such a good performance during the most difficult and unmanageable years of his life.
In 1940, he met and married his third wife Eleanor Norris, who was deeply devoted to him, and remained his constant companion and partner until Keaton's death. After several more years of hardship working as an uncredited, underpaid gag man for comedians such as the Marx Brothers, he was consulted on how to do a realistic and comedic fall for In the Good Old Summertime (1949) in which an expensive violin is destroyed. Finding no one who could do this better than him, he was given a minor role in the film. His presence reignited interest in his silent films, which lead to interviews, television appearances, film roles, and world tours that kept him busy for the rest of his life.
After several more film, television, and stage appearances through the 1960s, he wrote the autobiography "My Wonderful World of Slapstick", having completed nearly 150 films in the span of his ground-breaking career. His last film appearance was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) which premiered seven months after Keaton's death from the rapid onset of lung cancer. Since his death, Keaton's legacy is being discovered by new generations of viewers every day, many of his films are available on YouTube, DVD and Blu-ray, where he, like all gold-gilded and beloved entertainers can live forever.- Director
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Known for his creative stage direction, Elia Kazan was born Elias Kazantzoglou on September 7, 1909 in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (now Istanbul, Turkey). Noted for drawing out the best dramatic performances from his actors, he directed 21 actors to Oscar nominations, resulting in nine wins. He directed a string of successful films, including A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), On the Waterfront (1954), and East of Eden (1955). During his career, he won two Oscars as Best Director and received an Honorary Oscar, won three Tony Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.
His films were concerned with personal or social issues of special concern to him. Kazan writes, "I don't move unless I have some empathy with the basic theme." His first such "issue" film was Gentleman's Agreement (1947), with Gregory Peck, which dealt with anti-Semitism in America. It received 8 Oscar nominations and three wins, including Kazan's first for Best Director. It was followed by Pinky (1949), one of the first films in mainstream Hollywood to address racial prejudice against black people. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), an adaptation of the stage play which he had also directed, received 12 Oscar nominations, winning four, and was Marlon Brando's breakthrough role. In 1954, he directed On the Waterfront (1954), a film about union corruption on the New York harbor waterfront. In 1955, he directed John Steinbeck's East of Eden (1955), which introduced James Dean to movie audiences.
A turning point in Kazan's career came with his testimony as a witness before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952 at the time of the Hollywood blacklist, which brought him strong negative reactions from many liberal friends and colleagues. His testimony helped end the careers of former acting colleagues Morris Carnovsky and Art Smith, along with ending the work of playwright Clifford Odets. Kazan later justified his act by saying he took "only the more tolerable of two alternatives that were either way painful and wrong." Nearly a half-century later, his anti-Communist testimony continued to cause controversy. When Kazan was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1999, dozens of actors chose not to applaud as 250 demonstrators picketed the event.
Kazan influenced the films of the 1950s and 1960s with his provocative, issue-driven subjects. Director Stanley Kubrick called him, "without question, the best director we have in America, and capable of performing miracles with the actors he uses." On September 28, 2003, Elia Kazan died at age 94 of natural causes at his apartment in Manhattan, New York City. Martin Scorsese co-directed the documentary film A Letter to Elia (2010) as a personal tribute to Kazan.- Writer
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Krzysztof Kieslowski graduated from Lódz Film School in 1969, and became a documentary, TV and feature film director and scriptwriter. Before making his first film for TV, Przejscie podziemne (1974) (The Underground Passage), he made a number of short documentaries. His next TV title, Personnel (1975) (The Staff), took the Grand Prix at Mannheim Film Festival. His first full-length feature was The Scar (1976) (The Scar). In 1978 he made the famous documentary From a Night Porter's Point of View (1979) (Night Porter's Point of View), and in 1979 - a feature Camera Buff (1979) (Camera Buff), which was acclaimed in Poland and abroad. Everything he did from that point was of highest artistic quality.- Director
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Henry Koster was born Herman Kosterlitz in Berlin, Germany, on May 1, 1905. His maternal grandfather was a famous operatic tenor Julius Salomon (who died of tuberculosis in the 1880s). His father was a salesman of ladies unmentionables who left the family while Henry was at a young age, leaving him to support the family. He still managed to finish gymnasium (high school) in Berlin while working as a short-story writer and cartoonist. He was introduced to movies in 1910 when his uncle Richard opened a movie theater in Berlin and his mother went there every day to play the piano to accompany the films. Henry went with her--day care being nonexistent then--and had to sit for a couple of hours a day staring at the movie screen.
He achieved success as a short-story writer at age 17, resulting in his being hired by a Berlin movie company as a scenarist. He became an assistant to director Curtis Bernhardt. Bernhardt fell sick one day and asked Henry to direct (this was around 1931 or 1932). He had directed two films in Berlin for Aafa when Adolf Hitler came to power. He was in the midst of directing The Private Secretary Gets Married (1933) at that point, and having already been the victim of anti-Semitism, he knew he had to leave Germany, and soon. Any doubts he entertained about leaving were erased when, at a bank on his lunch hour one day, a Nazi SA officer insulted him; Henry hit the Nazi so hard he knocked him out. He proceeded to go directly to the railroad station and took a train for France. Upon arriving in France he was rehired by Bernhardt (who had left earlier). Eventually Henry went to Budapest and met and married Kató Király (1934). It was there he met producer Joe Pasternak, who represented Universal Pictures in Europe, and directed four films for him.
In 1936 he was signed to a contract with Universal and brought to Hollywood with Pasternak, several other refugees and his wife. At first he had some troubles at the studio (he didn't speak English), but eventually convinced Universal to let him make Three Smart Girls (1936) with Deanna Durbin and coached Durbin, who was 14 years old. The picture was a huge success and pulled Universal from the verge of bankruptcy. His second film, One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937) with Durbin and Leopold Stokowski, put Universal, Durbin, Pasternak and himself on top. He went on to do numerous musicals and family comedies during the late 1930s and early 1940s, many with Betty Grable, Durbin and other musical stars of the era. He stayed at Universal until 1941, then worked for MGM, and around 1948 moved over to 20th Century-Fox. He was nominated for an Academy Award for The Bishop's Wife (1947).
In 1950 he directed what was his biggest success to date--the James Stewart comedy Harvey (1950), but, although many in the industry thought it would be nominated for Best Picture, it wasn't. He directed the first American film in which Richard Burton appeared, My Cousin Rachel (1952), then was assigned by Fox to direct its first CinemaScope picture, The Robe (1953), also with Burton, which was a tremendous success. He directed a few more costume dramas, such as Désirée (1954) with Marlon Brando, then went back to family comedies and musicals, such as Flower Drum Song (1961) for Universal. After he finished The Singing Nun (1966) he retired from the film business to Leisure Village, Camarillo, CA, to indulge his lifelong interest in painting. He did a series of portraits of the movie stars with whom he worked.- Producer
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Stanley Kramer was born on 29 September 1913 in Hell's Kitchen [now Clinton], Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and director, known for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) and Inherit the Wind (1960). He was married to Karen Sharpe, Anne P. Kramer and Marilyn Erskine. He died on 19 February 2001 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
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Takeshi Kitano originally studied to become an engineer, but was thrown out of school for rebellious behavior. He learned comedy, singing and dancing from famed comedian Senzaburô Fukami. Working as a lift boy on a nightclub with such features as comic sketches and striptease dancing, Kitano saw his chance when a comedian suddenly fell ill, and he went on stage in the man's place. With a friend he formed the comic duo "The Two Beat" (his artist's name, "Beat Takeshi", comes from this period), which became very popular on Japanese television.
Kitano soon embarked on an acting career, and when the director of Violent Cop (1989) (aka "Violent Cop") fell ill, he took over that function as well. Immediately after that film was finished he set out to make a second gangster movie, Boiling Point (1990). Just after finishing Getting Any? (1994), Kitano was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that almost killed him. It changed his way of life, and he became an active painter. This change can be seen in his later films, which are characterized by his giving more importance to the aesthetics of the film, such as in Fireworks (1997) and Kikujiro (1999).- Director
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Lev Kuleshov was a Russian director who used the editing technique known as the "Kuleshov effect." Although some of the editing innovations, such as crosscutting were used by other directors before him, Kuleshov was the first to use it in the Soviet Russia. he was driving a Ford sports car amidst hard situation in the post-Civil war USSR, and remained a controversial figure who joined the Soviet communist party and destroyed archives of rare silent movies during his experiments, thus clearing way for his own works: documentaries and feature films ranging from political cinema to timeless gems.
He was born Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov on 1 January, 1899, in Tambov, Russia. His father, Vladimir Kuleshov, belonged to Russian landed gentry, was a patron of arts and owner of a private estate in Central Russia. His mother, Pelagea Shubina, was a teacher before she married his father. His parents understood his weaknesses (poor speaking ability and bouts of depression) and strengths (a sharp eye, persistence and determination). His forte was the ability to see what for others remained unseen. Young Kuleshov received exclusive private education at the home of his father who had a degree from Moscow Art College. After the death of his father, 15-year-old Kuleshov and his mother moved to Moscow. There he studied art and history at the prestigious Stroganov School, then continued his studies at Moscow School of Painting, Architecture and Sculpture focusing on oil painting.
In 1916 he started his film career as a set designer at the Moscow film studio of Aleksandr Khanzhonkov and occasionally acted in some of its productions. He played a young lover opposite Emma Bauer, a stunning beauty, whom he truly fell in love with even before the filming started. That was the silent film Za schastem (1917). Watching himself on the silver screen, young Kuleshov was disappointed with the comic effect of his acting conflicting with naturalism of his true feelings. He decided to focus on directing and developing the style of his own. His new friend, experienced film-maker Akhramovich-Ashmarin, introduced him to American school of film-making, which also influenced his work.
With the help from Khanzhonkov's leading cinematographer, Yevgeny Bauer, Kuleshov made his first experimental works in editing. In 1917, he made his first publication in 'Vestnik Kinematografii': in three consecutive articles Kuleshov trashed the "salon" traditions of his employer by writing about an artist's role in converting film industry into a new form of art. His directorial career began under the patronage of Bauer, with whom Kuleshov worked as art director on such films, as Nabat (1917) and Za schastem (1917), and completed the latter as director after the original director Bauer died. In 1918, Kuleshov made his directorial debut with 'Project of Engineer Prite', and the film brought him attention of film studio executives who gave the 19-year-old beginner a chance to participate in documenting the early history of the Civil War-era Russia.
Following the Russian revolution of 1917, Kuleshov joined the Bolsheviks and sided with the Red Army in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1919, which was a continuation of the First World War. He covered the war on the Eastern front with a documentary crew. After the end of the Civil War, the Communist Party solidified control of the country, thus helping Kuleshov's career. His friend, Vladimir Gardin, appointed him instructor at the Moscow Film School. There he made a career as director and teacher. In 1920, he directed a war film Na krasnom fronte (1920), a government sponsored film about the Red Army. For some time Kuleshov continued wearing the Red Army uniform, to show his loyalty to the new government.
He studied the techniques of Hollywood directors, particularly D.W. Griffith and Mack Sennett and introduced such innovations as crosscutting in editing and montage into Russian cinema. For his experiments Kuleshov was cutting old silent films from the archives of Khanzhonkov, Bauer and other private studios nationalized by the socialist govenment. Kuleshov used the archives of old silent movies for his own cutting experiments and thus most of the film archives was destroyed. Kuleshov remained quiet about this part of his career when he experimented with editing technique. He focused on putting two shots together to achieve a new meaning.
The "Kuleshov effect" is using the Pavlovian physiology to manipulate the impression made by an image and thus to spin the viewer's perception of that image. To demonstrate such manipulation, Kuleshov took a shot of popular Russian actor Ivan Mozzhukhin's expressionless face from an early silent film. He then edited the face together with three different endings: a plate of soup, a seductive woman, a dead child in a coffin. The audiences believed that Ivan Mozzhukhin acted differently looking at the food, the girl, or the coffin, showing an expression of hunger, desire, or grief respectively. Actually the face of Ivan Mozzhukhin in all three cases was one and the same shot repeated over and over again. Viewers own emotional reactions become involved in manipulation. Images spin those who are prone to be spun. Although editing and montage have already been used in art, architecture, fashion, politics, book publishing, theatrical productions and religious events (just look at placement of icons in churches, or photos in books, or pictures at exhibitions), the use of such editing in silent films was innovative and eventually led to more advanced visual effects.
Vsevolod Pudovkin, who claimed to have been the co-creator of Kuleshov's experiment, later described how the audience "raved about the acting... the heavy pensiveness of Ivan Mozzhukhin's mood over the soup, the deep sorrow with which he looked on the dead child, and the lust with which he observed the woman. But we knew that in all three cases the face was exactly the same." Kuleshov demonstrated the effect of editing that was successfully used in montage of such films, as Battleship Potemkin (1925) and Konets Sankt-Peterburga (1927) among other Soviet films. Kuleshov's good education, as well as his connections among Russian intellectual elite also helped his career.
At that time, Kuleshov and a group of his students, among them actress Aleksandra Khokhlova, collaborated on several movies that are now generally regarded as seminal films in Russian cinema. Among them are The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924), a satire on clash of civilizations showing naive American Christian pastor who comes to Russia just to be robbed twice, but then helped by exemplary Soviet policeman. In 1926 he produced his most popular film, By the Law (1926), based on a Jack London story. The movie was successful in Russia and especially in Europe. In 1933, he directed The Great Consoler (1933), based on biography of American writer O. Henry. The film was highly praised by Osip Brik and Lilya Brik. It was an interesting advancement in Kuleshov's experimental style.
In 1936, he received his Ph.D and became professor of directing and Moscow Film School. In 1941, Kuleshov's book 'Osnovy kinorezhissury' (aka... Fundamentals of Film Direction) was published in Moscow. Kuleshov was promoted to high position within the Soviet film industry and was designated Doctor of Science for the book, which was translated in several languages and became regarded among filmmakers worldwide.
During WWII, Kuleshov made two films. One, made in collaboration with writer Arkadiy Gaydar, was Klyatva Timura (1942). To complete the film, Kuleshov with his film crew was moved on Soviet government expense from cold Moscow to warm Stalinabad, the capital of Turkmenistan. There, in 1943, together with his wife, Aleksandra Khokhlova, he directed his last movie, We from the Urals (1944), a film about young Soviet boys making heroic efforts in the Eastern Front of WWII. After that, he returned from Central Asia back to Moscow. The Soviet capital was recovering after attacks of Nazi armies. For his contribution to art, and also for his dedication to communist ideas, a prestigious position as Artistic Director of the Moscow Film Institute (VGIK) where he worked for the next 25 years. Over the course of his career, his students were hundreds of Soviet filmmakers, such as directors Vsevolod Pudovkin, Boris Barnet, Mikhail Kalatozov and many others. His most trusted and devoted friend was Sergei Eisenstein.
Kuleshov visited Paris and presented a retrospective of his films in 1962. There he enjoyed much attention from international media. His friends in the Western world included many celebrities, such as Yves Montand, Louis Aragon, Elsa Triolet among others. Kuleshov was member of the Jury at 1966 Venice Film Festival and attended other film festivals as a special guest. He made several exclusive trips outside of the Soviet Union.Kuleshov was a friend of the State security chief, KGB General V.N. Merkulov.
Kuleshov was awarded Order of Lenin, Order of Red Banner, was designated People's Artist of Russia (1969), and received other decorations and perks from the Soviet government.
Outside of his film career, Lev Kuleshov was fond of hunting, he owned a collection of exclusive hunting guns and often used them to kill game outside of Moscow and in Southern Russia. He also spent much time at Mediterranean resort near Yalta in Crimea and often made hunting trips in that area. Kuleshov was married to his student Aleksandra Khokhlova, and lived with his wife in a prestigious block on Lenin Prospect in central Moscow. There he died in 1970, and was laid to rest in Moscow's most prestigious Novodevichy Cemetery. Kuleshov's funeral took place while the Soviet Union was celebrating the centennial anniversary of the former leader Vladimir Lenin.- Producer
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Aki Kaurismäki did a wide variety of jobs including postman, dish-washer and film critic, before forming a production and distribution company, Villealfa (in homage to Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville (1965)) with his older brother Mika Kaurismäki, also a film-maker. Both Aki and Mika are prolific film-makers, and together have been responsible for one-fifth of the total output of the Finnish film industry since the early 1980s, though Aki's work has found more favour abroad. His films are very short (he says a film should never run longer than 90 minutes, and many of his films are nearer 70), eccentric parodies of various genres (road movies, film noir, rock musicals), populated by lugubrious hard-drinking Finns and set to eclectic soundtracks, typically based around '50s rock'n'roll.
In the 1990s he has made films in Britain (I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)) and France (The Bohemian Life (1992)).- Writer
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Lawrence Kasdan is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. He directed Body Heat, Grand Canyon, The Big Chill, Silverado and Dreamcatcher. He wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Bodyguard, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens and Solo: A Star Wars Story. He is married to Meg Goldman since 1971 and has two sons.- Actor
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Eugene Curran Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third son of Harriet Catherine (Curran) and James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman. His father was of Irish descent and his mother was of Irish and German ancestry.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the largest and most powerful studio in Hollywood when Gene Kelly arrived in town in 1941. He came direct from the hit 1940 original Broadway production of "Pal Joey" and planned to return to the Broadway stage after making the one film required by his contract. His first picture for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was For Me and My Gal (1942) with Judy Garland. What kept Kelly in Hollywood were "the kindred creative spirits" he found behind the scenes at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The talent pool was especially large during World War II, when Hollywood was a refuge for many musicians and others in the performing arts of Europe who were forced to flee the Nazis. After the war, a new generation was coming of age. Those who saw An American in Paris (1951) would try to make real life as romantic as the reel life they saw portrayed in that musical, and the first time they saw Paris, they were seeing again in memory the seventeen-minute ballet sequence set to the title song written by George Gershwin and choreographed by Kelly. The sequence cost a half million dollars (U.S.) to make in 1951 dollars. Another Kelly musical of the era, Singin' in the Rain (1952), was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry. Kelly was in the same league as Fred Astaire, but instead of a top hat and tails Kelly wore work clothes that went with his masculine, athletic dance style.
Gene Kelly died at age 83 of complications from two strokes on February 2, 1996 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California.- Director
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Masaki Kobayashi was born on 14 February 1916 in Hokkaido, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Harakiri (1962), Samurai Rebellion (1967) and The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961). He died on 4 October 1996 in Tokyo, Japan.- 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.- Director
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Mikhail Kalatozov was born on 28 December 1903 in Tiflis, Russian Empire [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]. He was a director and cinematographer, known for The Cranes Are Flying (1957), True Friends (1954) and Zagovor obrechyonnykh (1950). He died on 27 March 1973 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].- Writer
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He studied fine arts in Paris in 1990-1992. In 1993 he won the award for Best Screenplay from the Educational Institute of Screenwriting with "A Painter and A Criminal Condemned to Death". After two more screenplay awards, he made his directorial debut with Crocodile (1996) ("Crocodile"). Then he went on to direct Wild Animals (1997) ("Wild Animals"), Birdcage Inn (1998) ("Birdcage Inn"), The Isle (2000) ("The Isle") and the highly experimental Real Fiction (2000) ("Real Fiction"), shot in just 200 minutes. In 1999, Address Unknown (2001) ("Address Unknown") was selected by the Pusan Film Festival's Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) for development.- Writer
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Satoshi Kon was born in 1963. He studied at the Musashino College of the Arts. He began his career as a Manga artist. He then moved to animation and worked as a background artist on many films (including Roujin Z (1991) by 'Katsuhiro Otomo'). Then, in 1995, he wrote an episode of the anthology film Memories (1995) (this Episode was "Magnetic Rose"). In 1997, he directed his first feature film: the excellent Perfect Blue (1997). In 2001, he finished work on his second feature film, Millennium Actress (2001) (aka Millennium Actress).- Director
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Michael Cacoyannis was born on 11 June 1922 in Limassol, Cyprus. He was a director and writer, known for Zorba the Greek (1964), Electra (1962) and Eroika (1960). He died on 25 July 2011 in Athens, Greece.- Actor
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For more than three decades, Henry King was the most versatile and reliable (not to mention hard-working) contract director on the 20th Century-Fox lot. His tenure lasted from 1930 to 1961, spanning most of Hollywood's "golden" era. King was renowned as a specialist in literary adaptations (A Bell for Adano (1945), The Sun Also Rises (1957)) and for his nostalgic depictions of rural or small-town America (Margie (1946)). Much of his work was characterized by an uncomplicated approach and a vivid visual style rather than cinematic tricks or technical individuality. For the most part it was his meticulous attention to detail, and his reliance on superior plots and good acting, that got the job done. King was, above all, an astute judge of talent. He introduced Ronald Colman to American audiences in The White Sister (1923), drawing a mustache on the actor's clean-shaven face with a retouching pencil--the real thing later becoming a Colman trademark. King discovered Gary Cooper and cast him in a leading dramatic role in his outdoor western The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926), over the initial objections of producer Samuel Goldwyn who thought Coop was just another "damn cowboy". Goldwyn quickly changed his mind after seeing the rushes. Other King discoveries included the lovely Jean Peters (in Captain from Castile (1947)) and Tyrone Power, whom he actively promoted to the point of badgering studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck to star him in Lloyd's of London (1936). Power subsequently became one of Fox's most popular stars.
All in all, not bad for a guy who had left school at 15 to work for the Norfolk & Western Railroad. After enduring the machine shops for a few years, King found more suitable employment as an apprentice actor with the touring Empire Stock Company, where he often performed song-and-dance routines in blackface. During his travels he befriended comedy actress Pearl White. While accompanying her on a visit to the Lubin film studio in Philadelphia in 1913, he was somehow talked into trying out as an actor. Before long King found himself cast as assorted western villains in scores of one-reelers. Moving to California the following year, he graduated to romantic leads in full-length feature films with the Balboa Amusement Company, often co-starring opposite popular child actress Marie Osborne. King's directing career began in 1915 and gathered momentum after he joined The American Film Manufacturing Company, and, subsequently, Thomas H. Ince. His first success was the army comedy 23 1/2 Hours' Leave (1919). By 1921 King fronted his own production company, Inspiration Pictures, releasing through First National. The rustic southern drama Tol'able David (1921) was his next critically acclaimed picture, but not until joining Goldwyn at United Artists (1925-30) did he manage to turn out a consistent string of hits, including The White Sister (1923) and Romola (1924)--both shot on location in Italy--and the archetypal tearjerker Stella Dallas (1925). For King, the transition to sound pictures was a mere formality.
In 1930 King qualified for his pilot's license and began busily scouting locations from the air, earning him the sobriquet "The Flying Director". When not airborne or on the golf course (his other passion), he demonstrated his amazing versatility with box-office hits across a wide variety of genres: striking and colorful swashbucklers (The Black Swan (1942)); romantic or religious melodramas--their sentimentality well-tempered so they never seemed maudlin--such as (The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)); epics (In Old Chicago (1938), with its splendid recreation of the 1871 great fire, the entire enterprise filmed at a staggering cost of $1.8 million); popular musicals (Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938), Carousel (1956)); psychological war drama (Twelve O'Clock High (1949)); and uncompromisingly tough, offbeat westerns (The Gunfighter (1950) and the underrated The Bravados (1958)). The latter three all starred King's preferred leading actor, Gregory Peck. Peck was also on hand for The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), reputedly Ernest Hemingway's favorite among all his filmed adaptations. Of course, King also had his occasional failures. Topping that list was Zanuck's pet project, the biopic Wilson (1944). Overly serious to the point of being dour, its pacifist message was lost to an audience in the middle of a world war. King's other notable dud, near the end of his career, was Beloved Infidel (1959). Badly miscast, the film chronicling the affair between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hollywood gossip columnist Sheilah Graham was played out, inaccurately, as a genteel and overly glossy romance.
Though nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Director, King failed to snag the coveted trophy. However, he did win a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of America in 1956. More importantly, perhaps, he seems to have enjoyed his work, stating in a 1978 interview, "I've had more fun directing pictures than most people have playing games" (New York Times, July 1 1982).- Director
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William Keighley's professional career spanned three distinct mediums: the theatre, motion pictures and, finally, radio. Initially trained as a stage actor and Broadway director, he arrived in Hollywood shortly after the advent of sound, landing a job with Warner Brothers (where he spent most of his career) as an assistant director and dialog director before helming his first film there in 1932. Keighley's gangster films of the period, such as 'G' Men (1935) and Bullets or Ballots (1936), are models of the kind of fast-paced, tightly made, exciting films that Warner's specialized in--and which kept the cash flowing in during the studio's devastating losses of the period. Interestingly, although his career is closely associated with the meteoric ascent of James Cagney, the two men did not particularly care for each other, as Cagney was somewhat put off by what he felt were Keighley's phony European affectations (something the director acquired during his tenure on Broadway in the early 1920s and which would carry over into his later career in radio). However, much like the working relationship between Errol Flynn and director Michael Curtiz (although far less volatile), both Cagney and Keighley did some of their best work together.
Keighley also directed comedies, the best of which is The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941). He was assigned by Warners to its prestigious Technicolor epic The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) with Flynn (although initially it was to be with a wildly miscast Cagney in the lead!), but following several weeks of shooting he was replaced by Curtiz (although receiving co-director credit) when studio executives thought that he was taking too long, they weren't satisfied with the film's pace and the costly epic--the most expensive picture in Warners history up to that time--was not going in the direction they thought it should. Keighley's film output declined in the late 1940s and early 1950s, roughly coinciding with his newfound interest as a radio host (his aristocratic voice was ideal for the medium) and his films met with less success, although he did turn out a crackerjack crime drama, The Street with No Name (1948). He retired from directing after his last film, The Master of Ballantrae (1953)--a beautifully shot but somewhat lumbering swashbuckler with an out-of-shape Errol Flynn--and he and his wife, actress Genevieve Tobin, moved to Paris, France, after he left CBS Radio in 1955.- Writer
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Avid reader Charlie Kaufman wrote plays and made short films as a young student. He moved from Massapequa, New York to West Hartford, Connecticut in 1972 where he attended high school. As a comedic actor, he performed in school plays and, after graduation, he enrolled at Boston University but soon transferred NYU to study film. Charlie worked in the circulation department of the Star Tribune, in Minneapolis, in the late 1980s and moved to Los Angeles in 1991, where he was hired to write for the TV sitcom Get a Life (1990). He went on to write comedy sketches and a variety of TV show episodes. Between writing assignments, he wrote the inventive screenplay Being John Malkovich (1999), which created Hollywood interest and the attention of producer Steve Golin. Charlie works at home in Pasadena, California, where he lives with his wife Denise and children.- Producer
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One of a large group of Hungarian refugees who found refuge in England in the 1930s, Sir Alexander Korda was the first British film producer to receive a knighthood. He was a major, if controversial, figure and acted as a guiding force behind the British film industry of the 1930s and continued to influence British films until his death in 1956. He learned his trade by working in studios in Austria, Germany and America and was a crafty and flamboyant businessman. He started his production company, London Films, in 1933 and one of its first films The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), received an Oscar nomination as best picture and won the Best Actor Oscar for its star, Charles Laughton. Helped by his brothers Zoltan Korda (director) and Vincent Korda (art director) and other expatriate Hungarians, London Films produced some of Britain's finest films (even if they weren't all commercial successes). Korda's willingness to experiment and be daring allowed the flowering of such talents as Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and gave early breaks to people such as Laurence Olivier, David Lean and Carol Reed. Korda sold his library to television in the 1950s, thus allowing London Films' famous logo of Big Ben to become familiar to a new generation of film enthusiasts.- Writer
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Director and screenwriter Philip Kaufman was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Chicago and later Harvard Law School. He won the Prix de la Nouvelle Critique at Cannes in 1965 for his film Goldstein (1964). He was the screenwriter for The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and was to direct it but was replaced as director by Clint Eastwood, owing to their love triangle with the late Sondra Locke. Kaufman's first hit as director was Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), a remake of Don Siegel's 1956 sci-fi classic (in fact, Siegel has a cameo in it as a cab driver), and later, Kaufman was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay on Material from Another Medium in 1988 for The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988). Kaufman's steamy Henry & June (1990) was the first film released by a major studio to be rated NC-17, which created much controversy.- Director
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Born in Tokyo in 1962. Originally intended to be a novelist, but after graduating from Waseda University in 1987 went on to become an assistant director at T.V. Man Union. Snuck off set to film Mou hitotsu no kyouiku - Ina shogakkou haru gumi no kiroku (1991). His first feature, Maborosi (1995), based on a Teru Miyamoto novel and drawn from his own experiences while filming August Without Him (1994), won jury prizes at Venice and Chicago. The main themes of his oeuvre include memory, loss, death and the intersection of documentary and fictive narratives.- Actor
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Mathieu Kassovitz was born on 3 August 1967 in Paris, France. He is an actor and director, known for Amélie (2001), La haine (1995) and The Fifth Element (1997).- Actor
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Born in Athens, Georgia as the middle of Rhonwyn and Larry Kendrick's three sons. He grew up in Smyrna, Georgia and graduated from Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor's degree in Communications. He worked as a Christian DJ for two radio stations before attending New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and being ordained into the ministry. He served as a minister to college students in Marietta, Georgia for four years.
After Kendrick married his wife Christina, they moved to Albany, Georgia where he served as Associate Pastor of Media at Sherwood Baptist Church. While there, he founded Sherwood Pictures and began acting in, writing, producing, and directing feature films. In 2015 he wrote and directed "War Room," which reached #1 at the box office. He also co-wrote seven novels and "The Love Dare," which made it to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Later he co-wrote the New York Times bestsellers "The Resolution for Men" and "The Battle Plan for Prayer". Alex and Christina now have six children.- Director
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Writer. Director. Producer. Studied law and graduated. Was one of the founders of the Oberhausener Manifest in 1962. Since 1962 Headmaster of the 'Institut fuer Filmgestaltung' at the 'Hochschule fuer Gestaltung' in Ulm, Germany. Since 1988 produces broadcastings dealing with cultural aspects in German private TV channels RTL and SAT.1 in his own responsibility (DCTP program).- Director
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Kiyoshi Kurosawa was born on 19 July 1955 in Kobe, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Tokyo Sonata (2008), Pulse (2001) and Cure (1997).- Director
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Former female impersonator who entered films in 1917 as an actor, turned to directing in 1922 and made some of the most formally brilliant Japanese films of the following decades. The few of Kinugasa's early works to have reached the West betray a highly mature, sophisticated talent. His best-known silent films are _Kurutta Ippeji (1926)_, an old print of which was found by Kinugasa in his attic and re-released in the 1970s, and Crossroads (1928), the first Japanese film to be commercially released in Europe. Both have been hailed for their inventive camera work, which has been compared to that of the celebrated German expressionist films being made during the same period. (It was not until 1929 that Kinugasa himself traveled abroad and encountered European directors and their films.) In the 1950s and 60s Kinugasa made a number of period dramas noted for their sumptuous color and imaginative use of the wide screen; Gate of Hell (1953) was named best film at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival and won an Oscar for best foreign film.- Writer
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James Richard Kelly better known as Richard Kelly, is an American film director and writer, known for writing and directing the cult classic Donnie Darko in 2001. Kelly was born James Richard Kelly in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Lane and Ennis Kelly. He grew up in Midlothian, Virginia, where he attended Midlothian High School and graduated in 1993. When he was a child, his father worked for NASA on the Mars Viking Lander program. He won a scholarship to the University of Southern California to study at the USC School of Cinema-Television where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He made two short films at USC, The Goodbye Place and Visceral Matter, before graduating in 1997.- Producer
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Baltasar Kormákur is an actor, producer and director whose work spans theater, movies and television. Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, he graduated as an actor from Iceland's National Academy of Fine Arts in 1990. He was immediately signed on by the National Theatre of Iceland, where he worked as one of the leading young performing artists until 1997. During the last two years of his assignment, he also directed several ambitious works, after having produced and directed highly popular, independent stage productions alongside his projects with the National Theatre. In 2000, he wrote, directed, acted in and produced the feature film "101 Reykjavik," which became an international hit and earned the Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Subsequently, Variety selected him as one of the "10 Directors to Watch," along with Alejandro González Iñárritu, Lukas Moodysson, Christopher Nolan and other newcomers at the time.
Soon after, Kormákur started Blueeyes Productions and since then has maintained his focus on feature film writing, producing, and directing. His films "The Sea," "A Little Trip To Heaven," "Jar City" and "White Night Wedding" have all been very successful in Iceland, and won numerous international awards. Kormákur's "The Deep," which eerily captures the tragic real-life story of the lone survivor of a capsized fishing boat off the frigid Icelandic coast, premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to become Iceland's Oscar nominee and was shortlisted for the foreign language Academy Award. It opened in Iceland on September 21, 2012 and took in over 50% of the country's box office receipts that weekend and earned a record number of Edda Awards, 11 in all, including Best Film of the Year, Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Kormákur has also directed features in the United States, including "Inhale," an independent film produced by the LA based 26 Films, starring Dermot Mulroney, Diane Kruger and Sam Shepard and "Contraband," starring Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, and Kate Beckinsale, which took first place at the US box office during its opening weekend, early January 2012. Universal Pictures released "Contraband," which was a remake of Oskar Johansson's "Reykjavik Rotterdam," that starred Kormákur and he produced with Agnes Johansen through his Blueeyes Productions, along with Working Title Films.
Kormákur's next film was the thriller "2 Guns," starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, which Universal Pictures will release in August 2013. Other projects include the HBO pilot "The Missionary," a spy thriller he will direct and Mark Wahlberg, Steve Levinson and Malcolm Gladwell will produce; "Everest," the cautionary tale and real life adventure on the mountain in 1996 when eight climbers died in the span of two days, due to a series of horrific mishaps and bad decisions. Working Title Films and Emmett/Furla Productions will produce "Everest" with Kormákur. Also, "Viking," a big budget action adventure set in the world of the famed Norse warriors, which will film in Iceland. Kormákur optioned Iceland's beloved, Nobel Prize-winning book Independent People to develop as a feature film and will produce the American remake of "Jar City" along with CEO of Lava Bear Films, David Linde. He is also producing the Icelandic drama "Rocketman," which acclaimed Icelandic filmmaker Dagur Kari is directing.- Director
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Harry Kümel was born on 27 January 1940 in Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. He is a director and writer, known for The Legend of Doom House (1971), Monsieur Hawarden (1968) and Eline Vere (1991).- Director
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Zacharias Kunuk was born on 27 November 1957 in Kapuivik, Nunavut, Canada. He is a director and producer, known for Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001), The Shaman's Apprentice (2021) and The Journals of Knud Rasmussen (2006).- Director
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A one time Hungarian cavalry officer, Zoltan Korda started working in films as a cameraman then an editor before becoming a director with London Films run by his brother Alexander Korda. Zoltan had strong liberal/socialist ideals and often clashed with Alexander, who, despite their both being born in Hungary, was a proud supporter of the old British Empire.- Director
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Ján Kadár was born on 1 April 1918 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was a director and writer, known for The Shop on Main Street (1965), Smrt si ríká Engelchen (1963) and Obzalovaný (1964). He died on 1 June 1979 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
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Irvin Kershner was born on April 29, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A graduate of the University of Southern California film school, Kershner began his career in 1950, producing documentaries for the United States Information Service in the Middle East. He later turned to television, directing and photographing a series of documentaries called "Confidential File". Kershner was one of the directors given his first break by producer Roger Corman, for whom he shot Stakeout on Dope Street (1958). The main theme that runs through many of his films is social alienation and human weaknesses - although his biggest commercial success was the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Irvin Kershner died at age 87 of lung cancer in his home in Los Angeles, California on November 27, 2010.- Director
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A one time Hungarian cavalry officer, Zoltan Korda started working in films as a cameraman then an editor before becoming a director with London Films run by his brother Alexander Korda. Zoltan had strong liberal/socialist ideals and often clashed with Alexander, who, despite their both being born in Hungary, was a proud supporter of the old British Empire.- Actress
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Diane Keaton was born Diane Hall in Los Angeles, California, to Dorothy Deanne (Keaton), an amateur photographer, and John Newton Ignatius "Jack" Hall, a civil engineer and real estate broker. She studied Drama at Santa Ana College, before dropping out in favor of the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. After appearing in summer stock for several months, she got her first major stage role in the Broadway rock musical "Hair". As understudy to the lead, she gained attention by not removing any of her clothing. In 1968, Woody Allen cast her in his Broadway play "Play It Again, Sam," which had a successful run. It was during this time that she became involved with Allen and appeared in a number of his films. The first one was Play It Again, Sam (1972), the screen adaptation of the stage play. That same year Francis Ford Coppola cast her as Kay in the Oscar-winning The Godfather (1972), and she was on her way to stardom. She reprized that role in the film's first sequel, The Godfather Part II (1974). She then appeared with Allen again in Sleeper (1973) and Love and Death (1975).
In 1977, she broke away from her comedy image to appear in the chilling Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), which won her a Golden Globe nomination. It was the same year that she appeared in what many regard as her best performance, in the title role of Annie Hall (1977), which Allen wrote specifically for her (her real last name is Hall, and her nickname is Annie), and what an impact she made. She won the Oscar and the British Award for Best Actress, and Allen won the Directors Award from the DGA. She started a fashion trend with her unisex clothes and was the poster girl for a lot of young males. Her mannerisms and awkward speech became almost a national craze. The question being asked, though, was, "Is she just a lightweight playing herself, or is there more depth to her personality?" For whatever reason, she appeared in but one film a year for the next two years and those films were by Allen. When they broke up she was next involved with Warren Beatty and appeared in his film Reds (1981), as the bohemian female journalist Louise Bryant. For her performance, she received nominations for the Academy Award and the Golden Globe. For the rest of the 1980s she appeared infrequently in films but won nominations in three of them. Attempting to break the typecasting she had fallen into, she took on the role of a confused, somewhat naive woman who becomes involved with Middle Eastern terrorists in The Little Drummer Girl (1984). To offset her lack of movie work, Diane began directing. She directed the documentary Heaven (1987), as well as some music videos. For television she directed an episode of the popular, but strange, Twin Peaks (1990).
In the 1990s, she began to get more mature roles, though she reprized the role of Kay Corleone in the third "Godfather" epic, The Godfather Part III (1990). She appeared as the wife of Steve Martin in the hit Father of the Bride (1991) and again in Father of the Bride Part II (1995). In 1993 she once again teamed with Woody Allen in Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), which was well received. In 1995 she received high marks for Unstrung Heroes (1995), her first major feature as a director.- Actor
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Raj Kapoor was the son of well-known Indian actor Prithviraj Kapoor, who acted both in film and on stage. After apprenticing in the Bollywood production studios of the 1940's, at 24 years of age Raj Kapoor produced, directed and acted in Aag (1948), with his new company, RK Films. His next production, Barsaat (1949), was a smash hit. In 1951, he also produced, directed and starred in Awaara (1951), which was another megahit, and costarred Nargis, who had appeared in Aag and Barsaat. Awaara also gained popular acclaim in Russia, where the movie and songs were dubbed into Russian. The theme song, Awaara Hoon, was popular in the East for many years. Kapoor has been dubbed "a great showman," and a filmmaker in the purest Romantic tradition, as he strove to entertain as well as address social themes close to his heart. Awaara dealt with the question of what forms an individual's moral grounding, ("nurture or nature") while incorporating comedy and stirring love scenes; in Shree 420 (1955) he addressed issues of poverty, unemployment and national pride in the new Indian state at the same time maintaining the audience's interest in the romantic plot. While never revolutionary in tone, many of his films explore the ability of the individual to overcome economic and environmental injustice while maintaining his/her innocence and integrity. He is quoted as believing that the individual's struggles ultimately lead to the desire for love, to care and be cared for. This is consistent with his admiration of Charles Chaplin, and Kapoor's own "tramp" (Awaara, Shree 420, Mera Naam Joker (1970) is modeled somewhat on his mentor, though with a definite individual flair.
His films demonstrate an understanding of music and direction that continue to influence Bollywood filmmaking today. Also a musician, his understanding of the musical feel of his movies gives them a storytelling fluidity equal to that of the best American movie musicals. He surrounded himself with the foremost talents in filmmaking, acting, writing (Kwaja Ahmad Abbas'), music composition (Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal, 'Shankarsinh Raguwanshi'), and playback singers, including Mukesh, 'Mohamed Rafi', and Lata Mangeshkar. Kapoor continued to make films of varying critical and popular success up until his death in 1988, and apparently considered Mera Naam Joker his personal favorite. He is still a well-known name not only in India, but in the Middle East, SE Asia, and Eastern Europe. His descendants have attempted to continue the RK Films banner.- Director
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Tatsumi Kumashiro was born on 24 April 1927 in Saga, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Like a Rolling Stone (1994), Ichijo Sayuri: Nureta yokujo (1972) and Shiroi yubi no tawamure (1972). He died on 24 February 1995.- Director
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American screenwriter and director--particularly of westerns--Burt Kennedy was the son of performers. He was part of their act, "The Dancing Kennedys", from infancy. He served in World War II as a cavalry officer and was highly decorated. After the war he joined the Pasadena Community Playhouse, but was ousted after one play as an actor for missing rehearsal. He found a job writing radio programs such as "Hash Knife Hartley" and "The Used Story Lot", then used his army fencing training to land work as a stunt fencer in films. Kennedy was hired to write 13 scripts for a proposed television program, "Juan and Diablo", with plans for John Wayne's Batjac Co. contract player Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez to star. The show was never produced, but Kennedy was kept on at Batjac to write films for producer Wayne. His initial effort, 7 Men from Now (1956), was a superb western, the first of the esteemed collaboration between director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott. Kennedy wrote most of that series, as well as a number of others for Batjac, although it would be nearly 20 years before Wayne actually appeared in the film of a Kennedy script. In 1960 Kennedy got his first job as director on a western, The Canadians (1961), but it was a critical failure. He turned to television where he wrote and directed episodes of Lawman (1958), The Virginian (1962) and most notably Combat! (1962). He returned to films in 1965 with the successful The Rounders (1965), later producing and directing the pilot for the TV series of the same name.
His output since then has consisted of a number of popular Westerns, both theatrical and for television, as well as an occasional non-Western, but always with his trademark humor and stylish dialogue.- Director
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Mehboob Khan was born on 9 September 1907 in Bilimora, Baroda, Bombay Presidency, British India. He was a director and producer, known for Mother India (1957), Son of India (1962) and The Savage Princess (1952). He was married to Sardar Akhtar. He died on 28 May 1964 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India.- Writer
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The Russian theatre and film director Andrei Konchalovsky is an elder brother of Nikita Mikhalkov, born August, 20, 1937. As a youngster he planned to pursue a career of a musician and learned to play piano but his love for cinema outweighed and he entered VGIK-the major state film school where he studied under Mikhail Romm. At VGIK he met Andrei Tarkovsky, they collaborated on Ivan's Childhood (1962) and Andrei Rublev (1966). For his feature debut The First Teacher (1965), he chose the book by Chingiz Aitmatov about the post-1917 Revolution period in the southern Russia. His next film Istoriya Asi Klyachinoy, kotoraya lyubila, da ne vyshla zamuzh (1966) although made in 1966 was not released until a decade later because it failed to comply with the strict requirements of the Russian censorship of the period. A Nest of Gentry (1969) - a study of the 19 c. aristocracy - was praised for its visual beauty but attacked by critics as mannered. Konchalovsky's powerful Uncle Vanya (1970) from the play by 'Anton Chekhov_ is regarded by many people as one of the best films in the Russian language ever. Siberiade (1979) - a dramatic and realistic story of the lives of the people of Siberia - was internationally acclaimed and brought Konchalovsky to the attention of American and European producers. From then on-wards his career has been international in scope. Pleasing critics and audiences worldwide, he made the English language films Maria's Lovers (1984), Runaway Train (1985), Duet for One (1986) (praised for Max von Sydow's brilliant performance), and the award-winning Homer and Eddie (1989) starring Whoopi Goldberg. Konchalovsky moved to the mainstream territory with the action packed Tango & Cash (1989). Charasteristically he still insists that this work is no less laudable than any of his others. He also directed plays and operas in a number of European cities. In the early 1990s he returned to Russia and directed several theatre productions most notably "The Seagull" by Chekhov and "Miss Julie" by August Strindberg. Residing in Moscow Konchalovsky sometimes makes short excursions to Hollywood to make mainstream TV productions like the Emmy-winning The Odyssey (1997) and The Lion in Winter (2003) in which Glenn Close gave an award-winning performance. His Russian-French co-production House of Fools (2002) - a story set in an asylum that stands on the border between Russia and Chechenya during the war in Chechenya - was warmly received in Europe and won an honor at the 2002 Venice Film Festival. However the film antagonized the critics in Russia. In the very beginning of his career he was credited as Mikhalkov- Konchalovsky. Later he adopted his mother's maiden name to distinguish himself from his younger brother, Nikita Mikhalkov, who was rapidly becoming a famous filmmaker himself. For his last feature film The Postman's White Nights (2014), shot digitally in his home country Russia, Andrey Konchalovsky won the 'Best Director' award at the 'Venice International Film Festival' in 2014.- Producer
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Barbara Kopple was born on 30 July 1946 in New York City, New York, USA. She is a producer and director, known for Harlan County U.S.A. (1976), American Dream (1990) and Shut Up & Sing (2006).- Director
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Kim Ji-woon was born in Seoul, South Korea. He began his career as an actor before becoming a stage director with productions such as "Hot Sea" in 1994 and "Movie, Movie" in 1995. He then began scripting for films, his first work, 97's "Wonderful Seasons" won Best Screenplay award at Korea's Premier Scenario contest, whilst his follow up The Quiet Family (1998) became not only his directorial debut, but also the source material for Takashi Miike's remake The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) in 2001.
With an official selection at the Berlin International Film Festival and Best Film award at the Fantasport Film Festival for "A Quiet Family", his next film, 2000's The Foul King (2000), was an instant domestic hit, maintaining the #1 spot for over 6 months, with over 2 million admissions, it was also a worldwide festival crowd-pleaser. The short Coming Out (2000) and his contribution to 3 Extremes II (2002) (alongside segments from Peter Ho-Sun Chan and Nonzee Nimibutr) followed and then he made the 2003 horror A Tale of Two Sisters (2003).
He is a fan of film-noir and claims that many of his films contain elements of noir, often mixed with black comedy. His movie A Bittersweet Life (2005) his full on film-noir gangster thriller masterwork.- Producer
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Mika Kaurismäki was born on 21 September 1955 in Orimattila, Finland. He is a producer and director, known for Kolme viisasta miestä (2008), Zombie ja Kummitusjuna (1991) and Helsinki Napoli All Night Long (1987). He is married to Cenira Dias Kaurismäki.- Producer
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Zalman King was born on 23 May 1942 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. He was a producer and director, known for 9½ Weeks (1986), Galaxy of Terror (1981) and In God's Hands (1998). He was married to Patricia Louisianna Knop. He died on 3 February 2012 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Director
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Harmony Korine was born in 1973 in Bolinas, California. His family moved to the east coast of the United States when he was five, and he spent his early years in Nashville, Tennessee, and New York. At the age of nineteen, he wrote the critically acclaimed screenplay Kids (1995) for director Larry Clark. At the time of release of Gummo (1997), he was at work writing a new feature and a 10-part decalogue called "Jokes," which is to be financed through French investors.- Director
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A Serbian film director. Born in 1954 in Sarajevo. Graduated in film directing at the prestigious Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague in 1978. During his studies, he was awarded several times for his short movies including Guernica (1978), which took first prize at the Student's Film Festival in Karlovy Vary. After graduation, he directed several TV movies in his hometown, Sarajevo. In collaboration with the screenwriter Abdulah Sidran in 1981, he made the successful feature debut Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981) which won the Silver Lion for best first feature at the Venice Film Festival. Their subsequent work, human political drama When Father Was Away on Business (1985) unanimously won top prize at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival as well as FIPRESCI prize and was nominated for the Best Foreign Language film Oscar. In 1989 he won the Best Director award at Cannes for Time of the Gypsies (1988), a film about the life of a gypsy family in Yugoslavia scripted by Gordan Mihic. His first English language movie, Arizona Dream (1993) starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway and scripted by his USA student, David Atkins was awarded the Silver Bear at the 1993 Berlin Film Festival. Underground (1995), a bitter surrealistic comedy about the Balkans, scripted by Dusan Kovacevic, won him a second Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995.- Director
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Kim Ki-young was born on 10 October 1919 in Seoul, Korea. He was a director and writer, known for Goryeojang (1963), A Defiance of Teenager (1959) and The Asphalt Pavement (1964). He was married to Yu-bong Kim. He died on 5 February 1998 in Seoul, South Korea.- Actress
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Diane Kurys was born on 3 December 1948 in Lyon, Rhône, France. She is an actress and director, known for For a Woman (2013), Entre Nous (1983) and Peppermint Soda (1977).- Writer
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Keisuke Kinoshita was born on 5 December 1912 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Twenty-Four Eyes (1954), The Ballad of Narayama (1958) and The Garden of Women (1954). He died on 30 December 1998 in Tokyo, Japan.- Director
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William Klein was born on 19 April 1926 in Manhattan, New York, USA. He was a director and writer, known for Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966), Le couple témoin (1977) and Far from Vietnam (1967). He was married to Jeanne Florin. He died on 11 September 2022 in Paris, France.- Director
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Allan King was born on 6 February 1930 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was a director and producer, known for Dying at Grace (2003), Warrendale (1967) and Avonlea (1990). He was married to Colleen Murphy. He died on 15 June 2009 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.- Director
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Grigori Mikhailovich Kozintsev was born on March 22, 1905, in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Kiev, Ukraine). His father, named Mikhail Kozintsev, was a medical doctor. Young Kozintsev studied at the Kiev Gymnazium. There, in 1919, he organized experimental theatre "Arlekin" together with his fellow students Sergei Yutkevich and Aleksei Kapler. During 1919 and 1920 Kozintsev studied art at the Kiev School of Art under the tutelage of Alexandra Exter.
Experiments. In 1920 Kozintsev moved to Petrograd (Leningrad or St. Petersburg). There he studied art at the "VKHUTEMAS" at the Academy of Fine Arts for two years. In 1921 Kozintsev with Sergei Yutkevich, Leonid Trauberg, and Leonid Kryzhitsky organized and led the Factory of Excentric Actors (FEKS). There Kozintsev directed radically avant-garde staging of plays "Zhenitba" (Marriage 1922) by Nikolay Gogol and "Vneshtorg na Eifelevoi Bashne" (Foreign trade on Eiffel Tower 1923). They were based in the former Eliseev Mansion on Gagarinskaya street No. 1 in St. Petersburg. Kozintsev and FEKS collaborated with writer Yuri Tynyanov, cinematographer Andrey Moskvin, young actor-director Sergey Gerasimov, artist Igor Vuskovich, and young composer Dmitri Shostakovich among others. Initially FEKS was the main platform for experimental actors, directors and artists, and was strongly influenced by Vsevolod Meyerhold and Vladimir Mayakovsky.
Artistic position. In 1924 Kozintsev and Trauberg came to "SevZapKino" Studios (now Lenfilm Studios). There Kozintsev continued his FEKS experiments in his first eccentric comedy 'Pokhozhdenie Oktyabriny' (1924). Kozintsev's early films were strongly criticized by official Soviet critics. His film 'Shinel' (1926) was compared to German Expressionism and accused of distortion of the original classic story by Nikolay Gogol. Kozintsev strongly argued against such comparisons with German expressionism; he was unhappy until the end of his life about such criticism of his early experimental works. Kozintsev insisted that his cheerful experiments were essential in the city of Petrograd (St. Petersburg) after the Russian Revolution of 1917, which brought destruction, depression, crime, and degradation of culture.
Early films. Kozintsev made twelve films together with Leonid Trauberg. Their collaboration began in 1921, in Petrograd (St. Petersburg). Their film-trilogy about Russian revolutionary hero Maxim was made from 1935-1941, when people in the Soviet Russia were terrorized under the most brutal dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. In departure from experimental youthfulness and freedom of their FEKS years, the Maxim trilogy was a trade-off blend of experiment and Soviet propaganda. It was still a powerful work and was even banned by censorship in the United States from the 1930s-1950s. For that work Kozintsev and Trauberg were awarded the Stalin's State Prize in 1941. After the Second World War Kozintsev and Trauberg made their last film together: 'Prostye Lyudi (Plain People 1946), which was censored and remained unreleased until 1958, when "Nikita Khrushchev' lifted the ban imposed by Stalin's censorship.
Highlights. Grigori Kozintsev ascended to his best works after the death of Stalin. Then Nikita Khrushchev initiated the "Thaw" which played a role in some liberation of individual creativity in the Soviet film industry. Kozintsev's adaptations of classical literature combined some experimental elements of his earlier silent films with the approach of a mature master. His Don Quixote (1957), King Lear (1969) and especially Hamlet (1963) were recognized worldwide as his highest achievements. In _Korol Lir (1969)_ Kozintsev made a brilliant decision to cast actors from the Baltic States as the Lear's family. Jüri Järvet, Regimantas Adomaitis, Donatas Banionis, Juozas Budraitis, and Elza Radzina together with Oleg Dal, Galina Volchek, Aleksey Petrenko made a powerful acting ensemble.
Hamlet and King Lear. Kozintsev first staged Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and 'King Lear" in 1941. His collaboration with Boris Pasternak began in 1940, when Pasternak was working on his Russian translation of the Shakespeare's originals. Both plays were prepared for stage under direction of Kozintsev. King Lear was staged in 1941, but further work was interrupted because of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Hamlet was staged in 1954. At the same time Kozintsev continued developing the idea of filming _Gamlet (1964)_, until everything came together in his legendary film. The adaptation by Boris Pasternak, the music by Dmitri Shostakovich, the direction by Kozintsev, and the acting talent of Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy produced special creative synergy. Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy was praised as the best Hamlet by Sir Laurence Olivier.
Legacy. In the 1920s Kozintsev taught at the Leningrad School of Acting. From 1944-1964 Kozintsev led his master-class for film directors at the Soviet State Film Institute (VGIK). Among his students were many prominent Russian directors and actors such as Sergey Gerasimov and others. Kozintsev was the head of master-class for film directors at Lenfilm Studios from 1964-1971. He wrote essays on William Shakespeare, Sergei Eisenstein, Charles Chaplin, and Vsevolod Meyerhold and published theoretical works on film direction. Grigori Kozintsev lived near Lenfilm Stidios in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) for the most part of his life. His work and presence was essential to the status of Lenfilm Studios as well as to the film community in Leningrad during the political and economic domination of Moscow as the Soviet capital. From his early works of the 1920s to his masterpiece _Gamlet (1964)_, Kozintsev was faithful to creative experimental approach.
Kozintsev was designated the People's Artist of the USSR. He was awarded the State Lenin's Prize of the USSR (1965), and received other awards and nominations. He died in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) on May 11, 1973, and was laid to rest in the Necropolis of the Masters of Art in St. Aleksandr Nevsky Convent in St. Petersburg, Russia.- Director
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Michel Khleifi was born on 3 November 1950 in Nazareth, Israel. He is a director and writer, known for Wedding in Galilee (1987), Hikayatul jawahiri thalath (1995) and Nashid el-Hajar (1991).- Director
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Ryûhei Kitamura was born on 30 May 1969 in Osaka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for The Midnight Meat Train (2008), Azumi (2003) and Versus (2000).- Director
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Phil Karlson entered the film industry while a law student at Loyola Marymount University in California. He got a job at Universal Pictures as a prop man, then worked pretty much any job they threw at him, from being an assistant director on several Bud Abbott and Lou Costello films to directing short subjects. He finally got a shot at features in 1944. Although he initially worked for low-budget studios like Monogram (where he shot several Bowery Boys and Charlie Chan entries) and Eagle-Lion, his films even then were marked by his penchant for short, tight scenes and sudden bursts of action. He made his mark in the 1950s with a series of tough, realistic, violent crime films noted for their gritty location shooting and Karlson's almost fanatic attention to detail. As good as those films were, though, Karlson was never able to capitalize on them and raise himself out of the B-picture mire, and he was stuck making things like The Young Doctors (1961), Kid Galahad (1962) and a pair of the repugnant Matt Helm films with Dean Martin, until he hit it big with Walking Tall (1973), his biggest commercial success (and which, since he owned a large part of the picture, made him rich).- Director
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She came to prominence with the much lauded adaptation of Jeanette Winterson's autobiographical novel 'Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'. Since then she's directed feature films, television dramas and documentaries. In 2008, she founded the charity called Filmclub with Lindsay Mackie. It has since grown to be one of the largest and most influential after-school clubs in the UK, attracting over 150,000 children and young people each week.
Filmclub screens 100 years of film from all over the world to its members. Inspirational, entertaining and with positive outcomes on literacy, social behaviour and cultural awareness, Filmclub members have the opportunity to review, discuss and meet professional film-makers.
In 2006, she was asked to build a web-site for the Guardian newspaper to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Greenham camp.- Director
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Stanley Kwan was born on 9 October 1957 in Hong Kong. He is a director and producer, known for Lan Yu (2001), Hold You Tight (1998) and Rouge (1987).- Director
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Elem Klimov was born on 9 July 1933 in Stalingrad, Nizhne-Volzhskiy kray, RSFSR, USSR [now Volgograd, Volgogradskaya oblast, Russia]. He was a director and actor, known for Come and See (1985), Rasputin (1981) and Pokhozhdeniya zubnogo vracha (1965). He was married to Larisa Shepitko. He died on 26 October 2003 in Moscow, Russia.- Director
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Kabore started out as a history student at the Centre d'Etudes Superieures d'Histoire d'Ouagadougou and continued his studies in Paris where he received an MA. During his studies he became interested in how Africa was portrayed abroad, which then led him, in 1974, to study cinematography at the Ecole Superieure d'Etudes Cinematographiques. Further inspiration came upon viewing Ousmane Sembene's Xala, which he saw as an example of how film could be used to express African culture. After returning to Africa, Kabore was made director of the Centre National du Cinema and taught at the Institut African d'Education Cinematographique. Along with students under his direction there he made his first film, 'Je Reviens De Bokin' (I Come From Bokin).
Kabore went on to produce practical documentaries such as 1978's, 'Stockez et conservez les grains' (Store and Conserve the Grain), which focused on agrarian concerns. Another kind of documentary he made in this early period, 'Regard sur le VI'eme FESPACO' (A Look at the 6th FESPACO) evidenced his concern for and promotion of African film. Kabore's first feature, Wend Kuuni (1982) was a breakthrough for African cinema notable for the way it translated African oral tradition to the screen. Next, Kabore returned to address the issues surrounding African cinema with a documentary, 'Props sur le cinema' (Reflections on the cinema) (1986). The short film featured two significant African directors, 'Souleymane Cisse' from Mali and Mauritania born Med Hondo discussing the problems facing filmmakers on the continent. He followed this with his second feature, Zan Boko (1988) which tells the story of a wealthy businessman who takes away ancestral land from a poor village peasant in order to build a swimming pool. The film focuses not only on the conflict of class struggle but also that of tradition and modernity in postcolonial civilization.
Before his next feature Kabore again returned with a short documentary, Madame Hado (1991), about Mrs. Hado, a celebrated Burkinabe singer and dancer. Kabore was then invited to contribute to the BBC's 'Developing Stories', a series of six films by talented filmmakers from the developing world focusing on environmental and developmental issues. He offered _Rabi (1993)_, which won the first prize for young people's films at the Okomedia International Ecological Film Festival. Another mark of Kabore's international recognition was his participation in the film, Lumière and Company (1995) in which 40 directors from around the world were asked to make a short film with the original Cinematographe invented by the Lumiere Brothers. His most recent feature Buud Yam (1997) was the 1997 grand-prize winner of the FESPACO.- Writer
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Lodge Kerrigan is a New York film director who has made only four films in fifteen years but whose works have left a deep imprint on the minds of those who have seen them. Difficult indeed to forget Peter Green, the schizophrene of Clean, Shaven (1993), Claire Dolan, the reluctant call-girl of Claire Dolan (1998) and William Keane, the devastated father of a missing six-year-old little girl, of Keane (2004)! Kerrigan's style, close to documentary, rehabilitates the misfits of today's society while attacking its dehumanization.- Director
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Karel Kachyna was born on 1 May 1924 in Vyskov, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was a director and writer, known for The Ear (1970), Nadeje (1964) and The High Wall (1964). He was married to Alena Mihulová. He died on 12 March 2004 in Prague, Czech Republic.- Director
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Matti Kassila was born on 12 January 1924 in Keuruu, Finland. He was a director and writer, known for Radio tekee murron (1951), The Girl from Moon Bridge (1953) and Elokuu (1956). He was married to Aino Mantsas. He died on 14 December 2018 in Vantaa, Finland.- Director
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Luise Fleck was born on 1 August 1873 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. She was a director and writer, known for Mir kommt keiner aus (1917), Eva, die Sünde (1920) and Die Ahnfrau (1919). She was married to Jacob Fleck and Anton Kolm. She died on 15 March 1950 in Vienna, Austria.Louise Kolm-Fleck- Director
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Iosif Kheifits was born on 4 December 1905 in Minsk, Russian Empire [now Belarus]. He was a director and writer, known for Baltic Deputy (1937), The Lady with the Dog (1960) and The Rumyantsev Case (1956). He was married to Yanina Zheymo. He died on 24 April 1995 in St. Petersburg, Russia.- Director
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Naomi Kawase was born on 30 May 1969 in Nara, Japan. She is a director and writer, known for Sweet Bean (2015), Still the Water (2014) and Suzaku (1997). She was previously married to Takenori Sentô.- Producer
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Anurag Singh Kashyap (born 10 September 1972) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. Kashyap made his directorial debut with as yet unreleased Paanch, with Kay Kay Menon as the lead. As a filmmaker, he is known for Black Friday (2004), a controversial and award-winning Hindi film about the 1993 Mumbai bombings, followed by No Smoking (2007), Dev D (2009), Gulaal (2009), That Girl in Yellow Boots (2011) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). As a screenwriter, he wrote the scripts for the Filmfare Award-winning Satya (1998) and the Academy Award-nominated Canadian film Water (2005). He founded his film production company, Anurag Kashyap Films Pvt. Ltd. in 2009.- Director
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Dong-won Kim is known for Songhwan (2003), Ggeutnaji anhmeun jeon jaeng (2008) and The Six Day Fight in Myong Dong Cathedral (1997).- Writer
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Nelly Kaplan was born on 11 April 1931 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was a writer and director, known for Charles and Lucie (1979), Papa, the Lil' Boats (1971) and A Very Curious Girl (1969). She died on 12 November 2020 in Geneva, Canton de Genève, Switzerland.- Director
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Koreyoshi Kurahara was born on 31 May 1927 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. He was a director and writer, known for Antarctica (1983), Eight Below (2006) and Kaitei kara kita onna (1959). He was married to Yumiko Miyagino. He died on 28 December 2002 in Yokohama, Japan.- Producer
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Kang Woo-suk was born on 10 November 1960 in Gyeonggi-do, Gyeongsan, South Korea. Kang is a producer and director, known for Silmido (2003), Moss (2010) and Two Cops (1993).- Producer
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Erkki Karu (1887-1935) challenged the stagebound work of early Finnish film by promoting more naturalistic playing and by shooting outdoors in his country's scenic forests and lakes. Together with theater actor Teuvo Puro and art director Karl Fager, he founded the first major movie production company in his country (Suomi-Filmi) . He produced 40 titles and directed 18, concentrating on swiftly paced comedies and melodramas that were not too heavy.The resulting films were so well liked by local viewers that the business stayed afloat during a period when there was much competition from foreign imports. Several of his movies, which had not previously been seen in the US, were presented in the spring of 1998 in a series called Baby It's Cold Outside at New York City's prestigious Museum of Modern Art.- Director
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András Kovács was born on 20 June 1925 in Chindia, Romania. He was a director and writer, known for Hideg napok (1966), The Stud Farm (1978) and Bekötött szemmel (1975). He died on 11 March 2017 in Budapest, Hungary.- Director
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Masaru Konuma was born on 30 December 1937 in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Beach (2000). He died on 22 January 2023.- Director
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Ana Kokkinos graduated from Melbourne's Monash University law school in 1982 and worked for nine years as an industrial lawyer. In 1991 she applied to film school and was accepted in the graduate film and TV programme at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne. Her graduation short film, Antamasi (1992), won several awards and played at a number of international film festivals.- Animation Department
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Fyodor Khitruk was born on 1 May 1917 in Tver, Russia. He was a director and writer, known for I Give you a Star (1975), Ostrov (1973) and The Lion and the Bull (1984). He was married to Galina Khitruk and Mariya Motruk. He died on 3 December 2012 in Moscow, Russia.- Director
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Mani Kaul was born on 25 December 1944 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. He was a director and writer, known for Duvidha (1973), Naukar Ki Kameez (1999) and Uski Roti (1970). He died on 6 July 2011 in New Delhi, India.- Director
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Helmut Käutner was born on 25 March 1908 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He was a director and writer, known for The Captain from Köpenick (1956), The Last Bridge (1954) and The Rest Is Silence (1959). He was married to Erica Balqué. He died on 20 April 1980 in Castellina in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy.- Director
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Tom Kalin is known for Swoon (1992), Savage Grace (2007) and They Are Lost to Vision Altogether (1989).- Director
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Jerzy Kawalerowicz was born on 19 January 1922 in Gwozdziec, Stanislawowskie, Poland [now Hvizdets, Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Night Train (1959), Mother Joan of the Angels (1961) and Death of a President (1977). He was married to Lucyna Winnicka, Maria Güntner and Malgorzata Dipont. He died on 27 December 2007 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Producer
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Peter Krüger is a writer, director and producer, born on August 9, 1970 in Gent, Flanders, Belgium. He is known for N_The Madness of Reason, made in close collaboration with the Booker prize winning novelist Ben Okri. The film was released at the Berlinale (Forum) and won three Ensor awards for Best Flemish Feature Film, Best Music and Best Editing. His previous film Antwerpen Centraal won the Grand Prize at the International Festival of Films on Art in Montreal. As a writer/director Peter is known for blurring the distinctions between documentary and fiction, dream and reality.
As a producer he has a long track record in producing documentaries, shorts and feature films. Peter is the co-founder and manager of Inti Films, a Belgian production company specializing in international co-productions.
Peter is also a member of the General Assembly and the Advisory Body of the Flanders Film Filmfund, the Flemish Union of Directors and the Ace producers network.- Director
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Kurt Kren was born on 20 September 1929 in Vienna, Austria. He was a director and cinematographer, known for 8/64: Ana - Aktion Brus (1964), 16/67: 20. September (1967) and 10b/65: Silber - Aktion Brus (1965). He died on 23 June 1998 in Vienna, Austria.- Director
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Mike Kuchar was born on 31 August 1942 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and actor, known for Death Quest of the Ju-Ju Cults (1976), The Craven Sluck (1967) and Lure of the Woods (2005).