Offscreen Notes
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Abbas Kiarostami Dead at Age 76 (1940-July 4, 2016)
Cinephiles all over the world are mourning the loss of arguably the greatest filmmaker of his generation, Abbas Kiarostami. We are particularly touched here at Offscreen because of what he has meant for the journal since its inception in 1997. By then Kiarostami had established himself as Iran’s greatest cinematic export, and was recognized in 1997 by Cannes with its top award, the Palme d’or for A Taste of Cherry. My own introduction to Iranian cinema came a few years before this when a few Iranian film students introduced me to the riches of their National cinema. Kiarostami along with Makhmalbaf were two of the first filmmakers they told me to watch. As such Kiarostami and Makhmalbaf became my guides into a whole new cinema culture which has continued to enlighten and entertain me for over 20 years now. Kiarostami’s death, though not unexpected —a current Iranian student told me a few months ago that he was very sick— is still a shock, and more importantly, sad because of the realization that there will be no more new Kiarostami films. Things do not get much sadder than that for a cinephile.
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RIP Prince
A death that has come too early in his life, at age 57. Interview with Prince on Larry King Live.
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Tony Conrad, Experimental Artist Dead at 76
Jonas Mekas’ brief tribute
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Colin Low: 1926-Feb. 24, 2016
A legend and pioneering force in Canadian cinema has died at age 89. Low was a mainstay at the NFB and was a pivotal force in making them such a National treasure. Through Hors Champ’s hosting of a special retrospective in Montreal I was fortunate to meet Mr. Low and was struck by his astuteness and self-effacing nature. Click to read two articles featured on Low in this past issue.
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Don Owen: 1931- Feb. 21, 2016
Canadian pioneer feature filmmaker Don Owen is dead at age 84. Owen, along with Larry Kent, was a trailblazer for the fiction film industry in Canada, directing the first NFB fiction feature in 1964, Nobody Waved Goodbye. Listen to this excerpt of Don Owen talking about his art.
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Douglas Slocombe, RIP:
The great British cinematographer Douglas Slocombe died on Feb 22, 2016 at the age of 103. Slocombe began as a photo-journalist for seminal magazine Life before making the switch to filmmaking with Ealing Studios. Slocombe worked on a variety of films, totalling 80 over-all, and many awards. One of this most impressive achievements was Joseph Losey’s The Servant, a brooding examination of power and manipulation which used stark black and white imagery and reflecting surfaces to jarring effect. Slocombe became an important collaborator with Steven Spielberg, who used him on many key films. The Guardian obituary.
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Angus Scrimm (1916-Jan. 9, 2016)
Angus Scrimm will always be remembered for his villainous turn as the spooky Tall Man from the 1979 surreal horror masterpiece Phantasm. Scrimm was typecast as the Tall Man but in the best way possible, repeating the role in several sequels and transplanting the character’s persona into other horror roles. The Tall Man was a unique horror icon, a hearse driver (dressed in black suit and tie) with one foot in the grave and the second in a nightmarish dreamscape. Scrimm has left a lasting impression on the many people he has worked with, as reported here.
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Andrzej Zulawski: 1940-Feb 17, 2016
The great Polish director Andrzej Zulawski has died of cancer and leaves behind a legacy of idiosyncratic works that will linger in the hearts and minds of cinephiles who enjoy the challenge his works often present. I was fortunate to have met and interviewed Zulawski when he was in Montreal as an honored guest of The Fantasia International Film Festival, and was struck by how much of a gentleman he was throughout our interview. Rest in Peace Andrzej:
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Important DVD release from Icarus Films
With her recent death the timing could not be better for this new box-set of the later works of Chantal Akerman, from Icarus Films.
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Jacques Rivette: 1918-2016
One of the leading figures of the French Nouvelle Vague has passed away on January 29, 2016 at the age of 87. Oddly enough Rivette’s death coincides with the recent home video release of both versions of his hard to see super long feature Out 1, released in a limited edition by Kino Video. For interesting links to interviews and short films, you can read David Hudson’s obit on Fandor.
