Celebrating Directors

When it comes to fame and fortune, film directors don’t immediately spring to mind as among the shortchanged (unlike, say, screenwriters). Robert Kesten, founder of Connecticut’s Director’s View Film Festival (February 15-18, 2002), sees things a little differently. "Outside of New York," he explains, "the contribution of directors often goes unrecognized by the public. The average person thinks of film as entertainment, but that’s to ignore the most important aspect of film, that it’s a medium that’s capable of pushing the envelope." As directors are often the ones doing the pushing, Kesten decided to create a festival that would "give people an idea of who directors are, what they do, and how they do it." Hence the aptly named Director’s View Film Festival, which celebrates its third anniversary this February.

For Kesten, the man who epitomizes the director’s art is Joseph L. Mankiewicz. In the early 1950s, Mankiewicz pulled off the unsurpassed feat of winning the Oscar for Best Screenplay and Best Director two years running ("Letter to Three Wives" in 1950 and "All About Eve" in 1951). He was also an influential mentor to a host of successful writers and directors including Robert Benton and Robert Redford. As such, he provides the inspiration for a festival whose goal is to show the influence of past film traditions upon present day filmmaking. As Kesten puts it, "Where would Tarantino be without Scorcese?"

The festival is full of awards and this year, the Joseph L. Mankiewicz Excellence in Filmmaking Award goes to Richard Donner, director of such Hollywood mega hits as "Superman," "The Omen," "Conspiracy Theory," "Maverick," "The Goonies," and the "Lethal Weapon" films. Past recipients include Robert Benton ("Places in the Heart") and the directing-producing team of James Ivory and Ismail Merchant.

According to conventional film festival wisdom, there is no doubt that Donner is an unusual choice for such an award. While his films are generally well-received, their broad public appeal would seem to undercut Donner’s credibility as an auteur. Yet this is just the sort of binary thinking that incenses Keston, who rails against the divide imposed between the commercial and the artistic in the film world. Since announcing Donner as this year’s award recipient, "people have come out of the woodwork, saying ‘Lethal Weapon 2’ is their favorite film, calling ‘Superman’ a classic," he comments. Kesten praises Donner for his range (his films span the genre gamut) and for his consistent attention to character, which he feels is what distinguishes Donner from other directors who specialize in action films.

"What we’re doing is recognizing that just because you’ve had commercial success" -- (Donner makes as much as $12 million per movie and, married to power producer Lauren Schuler Donner, is a bona fide member of the Hollywood elite) -- "this should not impinge on the fact that you’ve had a positive effect on filmmakers."

It’s a point well-taken and one that the festival explores through its programming. In addition to the spotlight on Donner, the Director’s View Independent provides an opportunity to see new films that have not found commercial distribution. With the total number of screens in the US decreasing, a large number of films produced each year inevitably get left by the wayside, making festivals such as Kesten’s an important way for filmmakers to find an audience for their work. The Director’s View Independent features an eclectic collection of 37 films, both short and feature length. The films explore subjects ranging from the comic to the dramatic and include a contribution from techno star Moby, who served as executive producer on "Porno," a satire of -- you guessed it -- the porn industry.

Another important facet of the festival is the International Student Film Festival, which screens short films directed by students 19 and under from around the world. With a few exceptions, the participants primarily hail from North America, but Kesten is working with UNESCO, UNICEF, and numerous national embassies and missions to expand the festival’s reach.

In keeping with Kesten’s commitment to unsung heroes, the festival also reserves a special spotlight for women filmmakers. This year’s recipient of the Dorothy Arzner Prize is Maggie Greenwald, whose films such as "The Ballad of Little Jo" and the Sundance award-winning "Songcatcher" feature strong women in unusual settings. The award, named for one of the few prominent female directors of the 1920s and 1930s, is an extension of a monthly series on Women in Film whose past guests include Mary Harron ("American Psycho," "I Shot Andy Warhol"), Nancy Savoca ("24 Hour Woman"), and Alison Maclean ("Jesus’ Son").

Documentaries are another genre that has a hard time penetrating the commercial film landscape. Accordingly, the festival will present a number of documentaries, including the acclaimed "Paul Robeson: Here I Stand!" which will be followed by a discussion with the director, St. Clair Bourne. The feature length film, originally aired as part of PBS’s American Masters series, is the definitive film biography of the performer and civil rights activist.

Kesten has a clear vision for the festival, seeing it as a springboard for developing a more vibrant local film culture. He has cultivated close ties with other community organizations; Norwalk Community College hosts the Independent Film Festival this year while a seminar on the economic impact of convergence will be held at the University of Connecticut. Norwalk College will also provide the base for the Director’s View Institute, an archive for scripts, letters, and other materials related to the director’s craft which Kesten plans to announce at the festival.

The festival is not the first to focus on directors (New Directors, New Films, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, for instance, is an important showcase for directing talent) but its effort to give recognition to filmmakers working outside of the mainstream, makes it a festival worth supporting.