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Laszlo & Vilmos
Directed by James Cressanthis
United States, 97 Minutes
Documentary
SAT APR 18, 2:45pm
Filmmakers James Chressanthis &Vilmos Zsigmond in attendance
Shown in partnership with Willamette University
For director James Chressanthis, the great cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond are not distant legends but the artists who inspired him to become a cameraman. This vivid double portrait is more than a valentine, revealing how a pair of Hungarian refugees who filmed their compatriots' doomed 1956 uprising against the Soviets made their way to Hollywood. They helped transform the American movie industry. Kovacs scored his breakthrough with the counterculture classics Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, moving on to major films such as Shampoo and Ghostbusters. Zsigmond, with the inspiration of Impressionist painting, assembled impressive credits including McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Deliverance and, perhaps most dazzling, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Still, the profound friendship of these two men, forged in adversity, is the greater story. Director and interviewee Richard Donner asserts "these are two brothers."
Filmography: First Feature
Awards: Santa Fe Film Festival's Best Documentary AwardJames Chressanthis (Cinematographer)
A native of Philadelphia, James Chressanthis' work as a cinematographer has spanned the worlds of feature films, television movies, music videos, commercials and documentaries. After studying engineering, he trained as a sculptor and photographer and began shooting films in college. He earned a master of fine arts of degree and enrolled in the cinematography program at the American Film Institute. Chressanthis' work has appeared on PBS, CBS and The Discovery Network and he continues to create and exhibit large scale mixed-media photographic, painting, drawing and installation work.
Vilmos Zsigmond (Cinematographer/Subject)
As film students in Hungary, renowned cinematographers Vilmos Zsigmond and Laszlo Kovacs shot footage of the Russian invasion of Budapest and subsequently volunteered to smuggle it out of the country. Barely escaping with their lives, they fled to America and settled in Hollywood, eventually saving enough money to buy their own 16mm camera to begin shooting movies. Zsigmond rose to prominence in the late 60s and 70s having shot films such as McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Deliverance, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He helped define a new American film aesthetic and pioneered innovative, fearless ways to tell stories.
