Jeff Nichols

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Jeff Nichols at the 2008 San Francisco Indyfest

Jeff Nichols (born December 7, 1978 in Little Rock , Arkansas ) is an American screenwriter and director.

Life

Training and feature film debut

Jeff Nichols was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he grew up in a band with two older brothers who would later become a lawyer and a musician. His family belonged to the Methodist Church there. In retrospect, Nichols would describe his homeland Arkansas as a "vicious beautiful place" with "harsh people" and "simple workers" . He began studying at the North Carolina School of the Arts ' film faculty , where his fellow students included Danny McBride and David Gordon Green . He completed his film studies in 2001. He then directed six short films.

In the fall of 2004, Nichols shot his feature film debut Shotgun Stories (2007) in the cotton fields of England (Arkansas ). The script was inspired by his own childhood among brothers and had written it within five months. The film, produced with little money and featuring former college students, acquaintances and the actor Michael Shannon , tells of the family feud of several half-brothers, which erupts in a series of murders after the death of their father. The "archaic story of revenge of biblical proportions" premiered in the forum of the Berlinale 2007 and brought Nichols first recognition in his home country. In addition to several film awards and a nomination for the "John Cassavetes Award" at the Independent Spirit Awards , influential film critics Roger Ebert ( Chicago Sun-Times ) and David Edelstein ( New York Magazine / National Public Radio ) chose Shotgun Stories on their 2008 best lists.

According to its own statements, Nichol's work was mainly inspired by American authors such as William Faulkner , Larry Brown , Harry Crewes and the short stories by Raymond Carver . Films that impressed him were Love Comeback (1983), Terrence Malick's Badlands - Shattered Dreams (1973), all of Paul Newman's films (including The Wildest Among Thousands , 1963), and Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade (1996). Above all, the closeness of his works to Malick noted repeatedly by the specialist critics. Nichols himself judged the comparisons as "strange" , but indicated a similar interest in the representation of nature and the environment.

International success with "Take Shelter"

In 2011, Nichols was able to build on the success of Shotgun Stories with his second feature film Take Shelter , which in turn is based on an original script he wrote himself. The drama, again starring Michael Shannon, focuses on construction worker Curtis LaForche from Ohio , who, plagued by nightmares of the approaching apocalypse , builds a shelter for his family on his property. Praised by film-dienst as a “suggestive disaster film” and as an “atmospherically dense psychological drama” , Take Shelter touches “global primal fears” and, in times of failed climate summits, acts like an invitation to “enclosed America” . The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung also drew comparisons to Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life with regard to actress Jessica Chastain . Nichols directorial work has won more than two dozen international film and festival awards, including the main prize in the Semaine internationale de la critique series at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival , the Austin Film Award from the Austin Film Critics Association , and the main prize from the Zurich Film Festival for best international feature film production as well as a nomination for the Director's Award at the Independent Spirit Awards.

In 2012 Nichols completed his third feature film, Mud . The youth drama is about a 14-year-old boy (played by Tye Sheridan ) who runs into an escaped convict ( Matthew McConaughey ). The boy helps him escape from an island in the Mississippi River and get back together with his former lover ( Reese Witherspoon ). For Mud , Nichols received his first invitation to the competition at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2012 .

In addition to his work as a director and screenwriter, Nichols took on an acting role in Joey Lauren Adams ' Come Early Morning (2006) and was the production manager on the documentary Be Here to Love Me (2004) about the American musician Townes Van Zandt (1944–1997) involved.

In 2016, Nichols received an invitation to compete at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival for his feature film Midnight Special with Michael Shannon , Joel Edgerton , Kirsten Dunst and Adam Driver in the leading roles . His next film Loving , also starring Shannon and Edgerton and Ruth Negga , earned him his second invitation to compete at the 66th Cannes International Film Festival .

Private life

Jeff Nichols moved to Austin, Texas , in the 2000s , where his brother trained as a lawyer. He is married. His brother Ben, the front man of the band Lucero , wrote the music for his films Shotgun Stories and Mud .

Filmography

Direction and script

producer

Awards and nominations (selection)

  • 2007: Austin Film Festival Feature Film Award for Shotgun Stories
  • 2007: Newport International Film Festival Student Jury Award for Shotgun Stories
  • 2007: FIPRESCI Prize of the Viennale for Shotgun Stories
  • 2007: Seattle International Film Festival's New American Cinema Award for Shotgun Stories
  • 2008: Nomination for the John Cassavetes Award of the Independent Spirit Awards for Shotgun Stories
  • 2011: Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes International Film Festival for Take Shelter
  • 2011: Special prize of the jury of the Festival Internacional de Cine de Gijón for Take Shelter
  • 2011: Austin Film Award from the Austin Film Critics Association for Take Shelter
  • 2011: Golden Eye of the Zurich Film Festival for Take Shelter (best international feature film)
  • 2012: Nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Take Shelter (Best Director)
  • 2012: Nomination for the Saturn Award for Take Shelter (Best Screenplay)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Trieschmann, Werner: Shotgun: Part of life for creator . In: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock), December 16, 2007 (accessed via LexisNexis Wirtschaft ).
  2. ↑ a b c Everyday sound of revenge . In: Canberra Times , July 14, 2007, p. 24.
  3. ↑ Interview on Take Shelter at complex.com, September 30, 2011 (English; accessed April 22, 2012).
  4. ↑ Profile at berlinale.de (accessed on 22 April 2012).
  5. ↑ Alumni entry ( Memento of the original dated May 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. by Jeff Nichols at uncsa.edu (accessed April 22, 2012). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uncsa.edu
  6. ↑ a b Interview at indiewire.com, September 28, 2011 (accessed April 22, 2012).
  7. ↑ Häger, Kathrin: Take Shelter - A storm is coming . In: film-dienst 6/2012 (accessed via Munzinger Online ).
  8. ↑ Description at timeout.com (accessed April 22, 2012).
  9. ↑ Ben Nichols is scoring his brother Jeff's movie 'Mud' . In: Arkansas Times , April 3, 2012, 7:35 PM EST (accessed via LexisNexis Business ).
personal data
SURNAME Nichols, Jeff
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American screenwriter and director
DATE OF BIRTH 7th December 1978
PLACE OF BIRTH Little Rock , Arkansas