Jack Fisk: An American Cinematheque Tribute

ABOUT THE SERIES:

The American Cinematheque welcomes production designer Jack Fisk for a tribute centering on a screening of his newest film, MARTY SUPREME, followed by an in-person Q&A. A three-time Academy Award nominee for Best Production Design who has, remarkably, never won, Fisk has nonetheless shaped some of the most indelible cinematic landscapes of the past half-century. His meticulously constructed worlds bridge dreams and realism, becoming both a stage for narratives to play out and a storytelling force in themselves. Join us as we celebrate his incredible work on Josh Safdie’s propulsive table tennis picture and revisit some of his most unforgettable collaborations with the modern masters of cinema.

Our tribute begins with the first of Fisk’s eight collaborations with Terrence Malick, the enigmatic neo-noir BADLANDS starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Whether scouted or constructed from the ground-up, the exacting authenticity of Fisk’s sets creates spaces that actors can psychologically inhabit, transporting both the performers and the audience. Three decades later, Fisk recreated colonial Jamestown with that same rigor to Malick’s historical epic THE NEW WORLD, and received his first Oscar nomination for his work on Paul Thomas Anderson’s oil-boom drama THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Fisk’s hands-on approach to worldbuilding lends itself to stories of violence both latent and manifest, allowing filmmakers to bring more complex account of history and human nature to the big screen.

Beyond his period pieces, Fisk’s collaborations with David Lynch demonstrate his uncanny ability to recreate a specific milieu in dreamlike strokes, as in the masterpiece of American avant-garde cinema, MULHOLLAND DRIVE. Fisk’s legendary attention to detail and hands-on approach have earned him a reputation as American auteur filmmakers’ secret weapon, a uniquely capable devotee of his craft whose work has come to define production design for generations of filmmakers.