American director William Friedkin will give the Cinema Masterclass of the 69th Festival de Cannes. Following in the footsteps of Martin Scorsese, Nanni Moretti, Wong Kar-wai, Quentin Tarantino, Marco Bellocchio, Philip Kaufman and Jacques Audiard, he will be on the stage of the Palais des Festivals at Buñuel Theatre to talk with the audience. The Masterclass will be hosted by film critic Michel Ciment.
William Friedkin is one of the leading figures of American cinema and recently published the book “The Friedkin Connection: A Memoir” in which he portrays himself with passion and sincerity. He played a large part in the renewal of American cinema at the beginning of the Seventies with The French Connection (1971) or The Exorcist (1973). They were also popular hits. He won one Academy Award as Best Director in 1972 and multiple awards around the world.
“It’s an honor to share my thoughts and ideas with an audience at Cannes, the home of world cinema”, he declared when accepting the invitation. “This is the most challenging time I can recall for the future of world cinema. There are massive changes coming for production and exhibition, more than I’ve experienced in over fifty years.”
Born in Chicago in 1935, fond of radio and opera, young Friedkin decided to become a film director when he got out of the screening of Citizen Kane by Orson Welles. Going through the school of television and reporting, they have to this day remained strong marks in his style and narration mixed with a deep sense of realism. Refined man and movie buff, he directed a long interview of Fritz Lang in 1974, before delivering in 1977 Sorcerer — an adaptation of The Wages of Fear by Henri-Georges Clouzot — a film he considers being his masterpiece.
He directed two astounding landmarks of the Eighties: Cruising (1980) and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), exploiting crime and thriller themes, then went deeply into the horror genre with Rampage (1987) and The Guardian (1990).
Profoundly involved in opera staging, William Friedkin has been keeping on directing films, Bug (2006) and Killer Joe (2011) being his latest releases.
William Friedkin’s Masterclass will take place on Wednesday, May, 18th, at Buñuel Theatre, Palais des Festivals.