Todd Solondz
Todd Solondz (born October 15, 1959 in Newark , New Jersey ) is an American director , actor , producer and screenwriter . He is known for his controversial and sometimes disturbing films.
Life
Todd Solondz grew up in Irvington, New Jersey . After he originally wanted to become a rabbi , he worked as a messenger for the Writers Guild of America , but he was already starting to write his own scripts. After graduating from Yale University and graduating from Tisch School with a degree in film and television , he made his first short film, Schatt's Last Shot , in 1985 . In 1989 the second film followed with the title Fear, Anxiety & Depression .
Solondz's films are often about the problems of the suburban world in the United States, where he grew up himself. Todd Solondz had his first success with Willkommen im Tollhaus . The film is about Dawn Wiener, a clumsy and ugly youth who is tortured in school. At home she is neglected by her parents, who love and spoil their cute younger sister.
Happiness , the follow-up film to Welcome to the Dollhouse , describes the suburban milieu in a similarly disgusting light as its predecessor, but also deals with taboo subjects such as pedophilia , sexual harassment and suicide . Among other things, the film won the International Critics' Prize at the Cannes Film Festival , but it also led to controversy. The Sundance Film Festival refused to include the film in its program, especially because of its provocative portrayal of a pedophile.
The two films that followed, Storytelling and Palindrome, were respected successes in cineast circles, but were not successful with the public.
In 2009, Solondz received an invitation to compete at the 66th Venice Film Festival for his feature film Life During Wartime , a sequel to the Happiness family story , where he won the Screenplay Award. In 2011, Dark Horse was re-invited to compete at the 68th Venice International Film Festival . In January 2016 Wiener Dog celebrated its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
Filmography
Direction and script
- 1985: Schatt's Last Shot
- 1989: Fear, Anxiety & Depression
- 1995: Willkommen im Tollhaus (Welcome to the Dollhouse)
- 1998: Happiness
- 2001: storytelling
- 2004: palindromes
- 2009: Life During Wartime
- 2011: Dark Horse
- 2016: Wiener-Dog
producer
- 1995: Willkommen im Tollhaus (Welcome to the Dollhouse)
actor
- 1985: Schatt's Last Shot
- 1986: In transit
- 1988: The Mafiosi Bride (Married to the Mob)
- 1989: Fear, Anxiety & Depression
- 1997: It couldn't be better (As Good as It Gets)
Awards and nominations
- 1996: Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for Welcome to the Madhouse
- 1998: International Film Critics' Prize in Cannes for Happiness and nomination for a Golden Globe Award in the Best Screenplay category
- 2009: Venice Film Festival Screenplay Award for Life During Wartime
literature
- Amanda Dorothy Brennan: A Suburban Dystopia. The representation of the American suburbs in Todd Solondz's films . Thesis. Faculty of Philological and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna, 2013 ( PDF file; 1155 KB ).
Web links
- Todd Solondz in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Official Awards ( Memento of the original from April 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at labiennale.org, September 12, 2009
- ↑ moviepilot
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Solondz, Todd |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American director, actor and screenwriter |
DATE OF BIRTH | October 15, 1959 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Newark , New Jersey , United States |