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| Varda |
Read up on lives and general upbringing of directors to see what route they took to film. Was also interested in the busyness (population) of the locations they spent their formative years.
Wong Kar-wai - Born Shanghai, China, pop. 24m. At 5 moved to Hong Kong in Kowloon (pop. 2m) just before Cultural Revolution, strife in separation from siblings and alienation from learning two new languages at young age. Dropped out of college to work in TV in 1980.
Zhang Yimou - Born in Xi'an, China, pop. 13m. Father and family was part of losing nationalist movement in civil war, they faced difficulties. Farmed for 3 years, cotton textile for 7 years in Xianyang (pop. 5m). Took up painting and photography, sold blood to buy first photo camera. At 28 started major in cinematography. Graduated then worked for state-run studio.
Ingmar Bergman - Born Uppsala, Sweden, pop. 177k. Father strict conservative parish minister. Locked him in dark closets for bedwetting, etc. Had a magic lantern slide projector he created a private world with. Didn't graduate college but wrote plays and became an assistant director at a local theatre.
Akira Kurosawa - Born Shinagawa, Japan, pop. 422k. Father was part of samurai family. had moderate wealth. Father encouraged interest in film and arts and Akira worked as silent film narrator. Wrote an essay to be an assistant director and got the job.
Stanley Kubrick - Born NYC, USA, pop. 9m. Bad student, father bought camera young. Self-taught film in late teens. Photography to short films.
Krzysztof Kieślowski - Born in Poland. Grew up in many small towns, no career goals so went to College for Theatre Technicians because it was run by a relative. Rejected from film school twice before getting it, briefly becoming art student to avoid military service. "Despite state censorship and interdiction on foreign travel" in Poland he was able to travel for his documentaries.
George Miller - Born Chinchilla, Queensland, Australia, pop. 7k. Graduated medical school. Did 1-minute film that won first prize in student competition.
Yasujirō Ozu - Born Tokyo, Japan, pop. 14m. Around 10 sent to live in Matsusaka (pop. 157k) where he spent 11 years. Skipped school often to watch films. Uncle helped him get job as assistant in the cinematography department at Shochiku. Did a year of military service.
Elem Klimov - Born Stalingrad, Russia, pop. 1m. Father investigator for communist party. He, mother, baby brother left during battle of Stalingrad on makeshift raft. Considered journalism, went to state school for cinema.
Federico Fellini - Born Rimini, Italy, pop. 150k. Spent youth drawing and staging puppet shows. Traveled to Florence at 18 and published first cartoon in a weekly. Worked his way up publishing articles in a magazine which later opened up screenplay writing opportunities in show business.
Werner Herzog - Born Munich, Germany, pop 1.6m. After two weeks house was destroyed by allied bombing, moved to Sachrang (pop. 571), there were no tools or toys in the home, and no fathers in the village. He read a few pages of an encyclopedia to learn the basics of film and stole a camera from the Munich Film School. No one would fund his films so he worked nights as a steel welder to start.
John Milius - Born St Louis, USA, pop. 300k. Loved reading. Wanted to go to war, got rejected. Film school.
Agnès Varda - Born Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium, pop. 87k. Moved to seaside Sète, France, pop. 45k and lived on boat with family during the war. Studied art then photography. Photography for many years, then film.
Paul Verhoeven - Born Amsterdam, 1m. Moved to the Hague, Netherlands, pop. 550k, near a German military base the was repeatedly bombed. As small child found the war exciting. Father was a teacher. double major, in mathematics and physics. In last years of college also studied film.
Luis Buñuel - Born Calanda, Spain, pop. 4k. Moved to Zaragoza, pop. 475k, as one of the wealthiest families. Strict Jesuit upbringing and deeply religious until 16. Met Dali at university. Moved to Paris and worked, then film school.
Andrei Tarkovsky - Born in what is now Kostroma Oblast, Russia, pop. 280k. Born to poet father and proofreader mother. At 7, during the WW went to small town of Yuryevets. Music and art at school. Circa 22 decides to study film.
Denis Villeneuve - Born Bécancour, Quebec, Canada, pop. 12k. Private school, then film at university.
Wim Wenders - Born Düsseldorf, Germany, pop. 631k. Studied medicine and philosophy but dropped out to move to Paris and become a painter. Later went to film school.
David Lean - Born in greater London to Quakers. Uncle gave him Brownie box camera at age 10, printed and developed his films as his great hobby. Aunt told him to find a job he enjoyed so around 19 he worked his way up film-related jobs.
John Carpenter - Born Carthage, pop. 3,236. Small town upstate NY. At 5 moves to Bowling Green KY, pop. 72k. Lived in Log Cabin on campus where dad taught. Short films as teen on 8mm. Moved to CA for film school, dropped out to make feature film.
Hayao Miyazaki - Born Tokyo, Japan, pop. 14m. Father made plane parts for WW2, gifting the family affluenza. Discharged from army for wanting to be with wife and child. Some earliest memories are bombed out cities at age 4. Was told he would not live to 20 due to digestive issues, mom was bed-ridden so he and brother took over things. Wanted to draw, fell in love with the first color animated film, worked for an animation studio.
Sidney Lumet - Born Philadelphia, PA, USA, population 1.6m. Studied acting and appears on Broadway as child. Went to war for four years during WW2.
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