Francis Thompson (Director)

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Francis Thompson (born January 3, 1908 in Titusville , Pennsylvania , † December 26, 2003 in New York City ) was an American film director , film producer and screenwriter who won the 38th Academy Awards in 1966 for his film To Be Alive! was awarded an Oscar .

biography

Francis Thompson was a filmmaker whose multiscreen documentaries paved the way for larger-than-life IMAX films , according to New York Times critic Patrick Healy . Thompson has produced and directed films throughout his 50-year film career, ranging from abstract experimental pieces to great epics about flying.

After Thompson entered the film business in 1950 with the short documentary Women of Tomorrow , he directed the film NY, NY in 1957 , in which an abstract view of life in New York is cast for a day. He used special lenses, prisms and mirrors, which gives the film a slightly cubist touch with a hint of Dadaism.

Thompson received an Oscar in the “Best Documentary Short Film” category for his documentary To Be Alive! which originally ran on three screens and gives an insight into the life of children in Africa, Europe, Asia and America. He produced the film in collaboration with his long-time partner Alexander Hammid . It was shown at the New York World's Fair in New York in 1964/1965 . In the following years both created other IMAX films. For the short documentary City Out of Wilderness , an outline of the history and development of the city of Washington, Thompson did not receive an Oscar in 1975 , but did receive a nomination. Thompson made his last film in 1986 with the short documentary On the Wing , an IMAX film that demonstrates the principles of animal flight in order to capture the early history of manned flight.

Thompson, who was a member of the Directors Guild of America , retired from the film business in 1987 and spent the last years of his life painting and creating collages , taking advantage of the opportunities offered by photocopiers. At the age of 95, he died in 2003 in Mount Sinai Hospital in New York of complications from pneumonia .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1950: Women of Tomorrow (documentary short film; director)
  • 1957: NY, NY (short film; director, visual effects and camera)
  • 1959: From Generation to Generation (documentary short film; director)
  • 1961: The Sand Castle (special effects)
  • 1964: To Be Alive! (Documentary short film; direction, production, author, camera)
  • 1964: To the Fair! (Documentary short film; producer)
  • 1967: We Are Young (short film; director)
  • 1976: To Fly! (Documentary short film; screenwriter)
  • 1979: City Out of Wilderness (documentary short film; producer)
  • 1979: Living Planet (documentary short film; producer)
  • 1982: The Quiet Collector: Andrew Mellon Remembered (executive producer)
  • 1982: Energy! Energy! (Documentary short film; director)
  • 1986: Frescoes of Diego Rivera (video documentary short film; executive producer)
  • 1986: On the Wing (short documentary; director, producer)

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Francis Thompson sS lightcone.org (English)
  2. ↑ a b c Patrick Healy: Francis Thompson, 95, Whose Films Inspired Imax
    In: The New York Times , December 29, 2003. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  3. ↑ NY, NY: A Day in New York by Francis Thompson 6 sS cartoonbrew.com (English)
  4. ↑ The 38th Acadey Awards | 1966 sS oscars.org (English)
  5. ↑ The 47th Academy Awards | 1975 sS oscars.org
personal data
SURNAME Thompson, Francis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director, film producer and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH January 3, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Titusville , Pennsylvania , United States
DATE OF DEATH December 26, 2003
Place of death New York City , United States