François Girard and Whit Stillman

April 20, 2005 6:16 PM

Two directors whose work I greatly admire, François Girard and Whit Stillman, have been MIA for quite some time. Can someone tell me where either has been, what they've been doing since their last films and what their future plans are? I've heard whispers and seen snippets online, but am hoping some industry-savvy MeFi-ite can provide something more substantial. Is this a case of lack of profitability completely trumping quality and forcing these two out of the director's chair?
posted by boombot to media & arts (4 comments total)

Ooh, good question. I like to think that Stillman is working on a deluxe Criterion boxed set of Metropolitan, Barcelona & Last Days of Disco. Sadly there's absolutely no evidence for it, but the wishing & hoping gets me through the day.

(Sorry I have nothing more concrete to offer. But I'm seriously eager to see if anyone weighs in on your question.)
posted by bcwinters at 6:28 PM on April 20, 2005

According to this article, Stillman is "busy adapting Winchester Races, a project with British producer Stephen Evans that would combine two unfinished Jane Austen novels, The Watsons and Sanditon, into a single script." I don't know how true that is but thanks for reminding me of Stillman. I enjoyed Last Days of Disco and have never seen Barcelona or Metropolitan. I now know what my next rental will be. Thanks!
posted by snez at 7:39 PM on April 20, 2005

Probably inaccurate and useless, but: I think you're just unfortunate to be a fan of two directors whose main interests in life are NOT film and they only put out movies sporadically.

In addition, both filmmakers are rather meticulous and I therefore take a long time to make even a single film. For example, it took Stillman 4 years just to write Metropolitan.

I could be way off but both of these men seem like they've got much else going on. I used to think that all filmmakers were always either making a movie or trying to get one made... that was until I spoke with one of my favorite filmmakers: Lodge Kerrigan. When I asked him why he didn't make more films he shrugged and looked at me like I was the first person who'd ever asked him that question. Then he said, "There's more to life than movies."
posted by dobbs at 7:46 PM on April 20, 2005

dobbs!!
*feels wave of relief*
Um, yeah, Metropolitan was great -- hope he makes something else.
posted by languagehat at 6:54 AM on April 21, 2005