On today’s special “From the Archives” episode of our podcast The Close-Up, you’ll hear a fascinating conversation with screenwriter, director, and critic Paul Schrader. In addition to our weekly series, which presents in-depth conversations with today’s leading filmmakers, every month we bring you a selection from our archives, which pulls from over 40 years of the New York Film Festival, Chaplin Award Galas, and other special events, retrospectives, and Q&As. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode, and, if you like what you hear, leave us a review!
Today’s selection comes from 2006 and coincided with the publication of an essay Paul Schrader wrote for Film Comment entitled “Canon Fodder.” His piece investigated and dissected the criteria used to determine which films deserve to be called the greatest of all time. Read the full essay here. On the occasion of the article’s release, Paul Schrader joined New York Film Festival Director of Programming Kent Jones on stage in our Walter Reade Theater to talk about film canons, Wong Kar Wai, Pauline Kael, and his pick for the greatest of all time, Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game.
Schrader also talks about a strong interest in looking at film history through the lens of technological advancement. Now, almost a decade later, he has expanded this interest with a series for Film Comment called “Game Changers.” The fifth installment, which explores the birth and influence of Slow, Fast, and Reverse Motion, appears in the July/August issue, now available in print and digital editions.
