A Tribute to Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

ABOUT THE SERIES:

The American Cinematheque is proud to welcome esteemed filmmakers Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold for an in-person tribute during the fourth annual ‘Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair.’ Collaborators in both life and art, Corbet and Fastvold form one of the most celebrated  directing-writing duos of contemporary cinema. This historic tribute invites audiences to witness the evolving dialogue between two artists pushing the boundaries of narrative art  form, and of film’s ability to make sense of our collective past.

Their collaboration gained global recognition with the Oscar-winning WWII epic, THE BRUTALIST, though their shared vision first reached audiences with their co-written, Fastvold-directed THE SLEEPWALKER, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival and was commemorated for its intricate storytelling, launching the next decade of prolific storytelling from the pair. This time switching roles, the co-written, Corbet-directed THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER, a loose adaptation of the original story by Jean-Paul Sartre, enjoyed its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where it won two awards and was nominated for a third. In it, Corbet and Fastvold first reckon with the ghosts of the past, divulging the story of the rebellious young son of an American diplomat who comes of age in the French countryside of post-WWI, tormented by competing national, familial and spiritual affiliations. The Corbet-directed VOX LUX features Natalie Portman and Jude Law in this reflexive portrait of stardom, detailing the rise and fall of an artist born from tragedy. For their fourth film, they traveled further back in time than they ever had before, to the mid-19th century in THE WORLD TO COME, Fastvold’s sophomore directorial about alienation on the American frontier, challenging common misconceptions of unadulterated prosperity and hope during this period in American history. Once again premiering at Venice International Film Festival, this time winning the Queer Lion award for best LGBTQ-themed film.

The Corbet-Fastvold partnership has galvanized global film audiences over the past decade and challenged us to view the past with a fresh imagination, though Brady Corbet’s presence in cinema has been in effect for much longer. Along with his acting role in Lars von Trier’s end-of-the-world drama MELANCHOLIA, Corbet secured his place in the art cinema world with his twisted performance in Michael Haneke’s pitch-black satire FUNNY GAMES as Peter, one half of the pair of preppy young sadists who capture and torture a suburban family on vacation. Just as Corbet’s career as an actor feels in conversation with his work as a storyteller, so too do Corbet and Fastvold’s combined oeuvre exemplify a shared discourse, consistently exploring how humans make sense of suffering, reacting to a world of violence and destruction and peering into the void within: the struggle to find meaning and form an identity in the face of the great hardship.