Films like Accattone (Pasolini, 1961), Zero For Conduct (Vigo, 1933), and Nights of Cabiria (Fellini, 1957) exposed American audiences to radically different, European ideas about sex and social politics.
The cultural mores and aesthetic presented in the films distributed by Janus provided a refreshing alternative to the rote epics and period pieces produced in Hollywood in the late fifties and early sixties. He will also be in Austin to participate in the SXSW Conference on March 11, along with Austin Film Society founder and artistic director Richard Linklater.Founded by two Harvard students in 1956, Janus Films was one of the first distributors to bring what are now regarded as the masterpieces of world cinema to American audiences. He also thanked Janus Films & Criterion Collection, which “have been involved in this process for years, even at a time when we thought there was no credible way to untangle this knot.”Īssayas will be present at the Austin Film Society from March 9-11 for screenings of several of his movies, including “Something in the Air,” “Paris Awakens,” “Irma Vep,” “Summer Hours,” “Clouds of Sils Maria,” “Personal Shopper” and “Cold Water.” The screening series, co-organized by French film promotion organization UniFrance, will be followed by discussions with Assayas. The helmer paid homage to Sylvie Barthet, the original line producer on “Cold Water,” who’s been working with him ever since and is now a co-producer on his movies. The French director described “Cold Water” as a “movie about kids in the ’70s.” “They look very much like myself and my friends at the time….It was my first shot at some sort of cinematic autobiography and I saw it as an experiment,” said Assayas, adding that “Cold Water” changed his “filmmaking life” by teaching him that “it is by taking chances, by trying side roads that you open up new spaces for yourself.”
Unluckily, its access to general release has been plagued by misfortune after misfortune.”Īssayas said he and his partners had to clear the French rights, international rights and music rights to allow the film to have its “long-overdue U.S.
“With an uncanny fluidity, this deeply honest coming-of-age tale fuses wrenching emotional realism and a lush, expressionistic visual style driven by one of the most amazing soundtracks in any film,” added Becker, noting that the uncleared music rights kept the film from getting distributed in the U.S.Īssayas said that the “premiere of the restored ‘Cold Water’ is a huge satisfaction, and the result of years of concern, struggle, anger, resilience….Ever since I shot this film in 24 days in December ’93 – and it opened at the Cannes Film Festival in May 94 – it has had a great life of its own, traveling the world and screening at most major festivals.
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