BIG NIGHT
MARDIK: FROM BAGHDAD
TO HOLLYWOOD
Directed by
Ramy Katrib & Evan York
United States, 80 mins.
Documentary
Saturday, 6:45 pM, The Elsinore
Filmmakers Mardik Martin, Ramy Katrib & Evan York in Attendance!
Screenwriter Mardik Martin will receive Salem Film Festival’s first Special Tribute Award following the screening and then will introduce the classic Raging Bull
The legendary Mardik Martin, one of cinema’s most important screenwriters and an inspirational USC film professor, looks back at a life as tumultuous as those of the characters he created for some of Scorsese’s most stunning masterpieces. From triumph to failure and back again Mardik: From Baghdad to Hollywood details this amazing life as he captured and squandered the elusive American Dream. After immigrating to the U.S. as a young man, Martin graduated from and went on to teach screenwriting at New York University. It was here that he began his famous career with Award Winning Director Martin Scorsese and together they created some of the most highly revered films in history. Among their many collaborations are Mean Streets, New York, New York and Raging Bull, which was recently ranked fourth on AFI’s list of the 100 greatest movies of all time. With candid input from Scorsese himself, along with other Hollywood visionaries, this intimate portrait of one industry great is a lionhearted tale of redemption and courage, and of the will to pull through the muddied waters and sail in the sun once again.
Shown in partnership with Willamette UniversityFilmography: First Feature
Awards: Rogue Film Festival Best Documentary; ARPA International Film Festival Foundation Award
Mardik Martin (Screenwriter)
Mardik Martin immigrated to the United States from Iraq to attend New York University. He won the Mahler award and graduated with a Master's degree in 1968 and then went on to teach screen writing at NYU from 1968 to 1973. Mardik moved to Hollywood that year after Mean Streets, which he co-wrote with Martin Scorcese, became a huge hit. He worked for Chartoff-Winkler Productions in the years following, writing screenplays like Valentino and collaborating with Scorcese again on Last Waltz before writing the first three drafts of Raging Bull. Now semi-retired, Martin works as a Senior Lecturer at the prestigious USC film school, having mentored and taught thousands of the brightest young luminaries in the movie business.
Ramy Katrib (Co-Director, CEO DigitalFilm Tree)
Ramy directs production, post-production, design, creative services, and consulting services for DigitalFilm Tree. Ramy is a colorist and post-production specialist by trade, and has worked and consulted on over 500 films including the Academy Award winning The Long Way Home and Cold Mountain, as well as Napoleon Dynamite. His company also provides post-production services for NBC’s Scrubs and WB's Everybody Hates Chris. Ramy has also produced a documentary about physics and medicine, called Particles and People.
Evan York (Co-Director)
Evan York has produced and directed several projects, a short film on the late artist Tim Fields, along with several animated including Found Father, a 7-minute piece inspired by The Triplets of BellevIlle; Subway Tokens, conversations with people in the streets of New York; and Passing Soul, a short live-action psychological thriller. Evan's animations were also featured in Sci-Fi Boys, a documentary about the rise of special effects in Hollywood. As an artist and fashion designer his street art, murals, and clothing have been seen in Tokyo, Spain, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Los Angeles.
