William Friedkin

Date – birth: 29 August 1935
Place – birth: Chicago, USA
For its 38th edition, The Deauville American Film Festival will pay tribute – in his presence to the American filmmaker William Friedkin.

Born in Chicago in 1935, William Friedkin discovered his love of cinema thanks to Orson Welles’s CITIZEN KANE and began his career in television. He made his directorial debut for the big screen in1967 with the musical comedy GOOD TIMES before going on to make THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, an adaptation of the eponymous play by Harold Pinter.

With THE FRENCH CONNECTION in 1971, Friedkin won widespread critical acclaim. This thriller inspired of the true story of the French Connection a criminal organization smuggling heroin to the United States from France – won 5 Oscars including Best Film, Best Actor for Gene Hackman and Best Director for William Friedkin. Its upbeat dramatic pace and legendary car-chase sequence make this film a true classic of the thriller genre. In 1973, he went on to make another film that was to mark the history of US cinema as well as movie-goers’ imaginations.

With THE EXORCIST, based on William Peter Blatty’s best-selling novel, William Friedkin directed what for many remains one of the greatest horror movies of all time. Having received 10 Oscar nominations, the film won, in particular, the award for Best Screenplay. These two back to back smash-hit movies made William Friedkin one of the premier directors of New Hollywood. In the years that followed, he directed SORCERER, a US remake of SALAIRE DE LA PEUR (THE WAGES OF FEAR) by Henri-Georges Clouzot, which he considers to be one of his best films. This was followed by the crime-comedy THE BRINK’S JOB starring Peter Falk in 1978, and CRUISING starring Al Pacino in 1980.

In the 80s and 90s, William Friedkin directed DEAL OF THE CENTURY starring Sigourney Weaver, the action movie TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. featuring Willem Dafoe, enabling him to pursue his exploration of the frontiers of good and evil, as well as the thrillers RAMPAGE and JADE starring Linda Fiorentino.
In 2000, while an extended version of THE EXORCIST was re-released in theaters grossing 40 million dollars at the US box-office, Friedkin’s RULES OF ENGAGEMENT starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson was warmly received by the public.

William Friedkin worked with Tommy Lee Jones once again in 2003 on the thriller THE HUNTED before going on to direct BUG, a paranoiac, claustrophobic thriller starring Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon, presented at the Cannes Festival Directors’ Fortnight.
This year’s Festival tribute will be the chance to discover his latest film KILLER JOE in sneak preview, a dark thriller in which Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch and Juno Temple become the latest additions to William Friedkin’s gallery of complex and amoral characters.

The Deauville American Film Festival 2012 is delighted to pay tribute to this great master of the genre-movie who managed to overthrow traditional filmmaking codes and make so many different movie atmospheres his own.
On the occasion of this Tribute, William Friedkin will give a MASTER CLASS, open to festival-goers, on Sunday, September 2.

Filmography

2012 Arbitrage by Nicholas Jarecki
2011 Killer Joe – William Friedkin
2009 “CSI (2 episodes, 2007-2009)
2007 The Painter’s Voice
2006 Bug – William Friedkin
2003 The Hunted – William Friedkin
2000 Rules – Engagement – William Friedkin
1995 Jade – William Friedkin
1994 Blue Chips – William Friedkin
1990 The Guardian – William Friedkin
1988 Rampage – William Friedkin
1985 To Live and Die in L.A. – William Friedkin
1983 Deal – the Century – William Friedkin
1980 Cruising – William Friedkin
1978 The Brink’s Job – William Friedkin
1977 Sorcerer – William Friedkin .
1974 Fritz Lang Interviewed by William Friedkin
1973 The Exorcist – William Friedkin
1971 The French Connection
1970 The Boys in the Band – William Friedkin
1968 The Night They Raided Minsky’s – William Friedkin
1968 The Birthday Party – William Friedkin
1967 Good Times – William Friedkin

William Friedkin, 4.0 out of 5 based on 2 ratings