Legendary American filmmaker John Sayles has confirmed his attendance as the star guest of the 2008 Glasgow Film Festival. A two time Oscar nominee, Sayles is the undisputed king of American independent cinema with an inspirational thirty year career that includes such landmark films as The Return Of The Secaucus Seven (1980), Matewan (1987), City Of Hope (1991), Passion Fish (1992), Lone Star (1996) and Sunshine State (2002).
Sayles will attend the Festival with his partner and producer Maggie Renzi.
He will introduce his latest film Honeydripper and participate in a master class with Festival Co-Director Allan Hunter in which he will discuss his lengthy career as a director and as a screenwriter on such diverse films as Piranha (1978), The Howling (1981), Breaking In (1989), directed by Bill Forsyth, and The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) which will also receive a UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival.
Set in the Alabama of the early 1950s, Honeydripper offers a classic illustration of Sayles skills as a master storyteller, his ability to evoke a specific time and place and his enduring fascination with community. Danny Glover stars as Tyrone " Pine Top" Purvis, the proprietor of a juke joint that has seen better days. His customers are slipping away to a more glamorous rival, his wife resents the sweet stench of failure and bankruptcy is just a heartbeat away. He stakes his future on an appearance from blues star Guitar Sam, a surefire crowd-pleaser guaranteed to set the joint jumping. If only Tyrone can entice him to town for one Saturday night all his problems will be solved. Featuring a terrific ensemble cast that includes Charles S Dutton, Mary Steenburgen, Stacy Keach and Gary Clark Jr, Honeydripper is told with sly humour and a love of the blues guaranteed to set toes tapping and hips swaying.
Born in Schenectady, New York in 1950, John Sayles is a true American renaissance man. A writer, director, actor and producer, he has also written a number of novels including Pride Of The Bimbos (1975), Union Dues (1977) and Los Gusanos (1991). He first made his mark in the film world writing genre scripts for Roger Corman that were noted for their wit and inventiveness. Sayles used his earnings as a scriptwriter to finance his directorial debut The Return Of The Secaucus Seven (1980). Shot in 25 days on a budget of just $40,000, the film tells of a reunion of 1960s college radicals and illustrates the extreme social and political changes that befell a generation of Americans. It inspired The Big Chill (1983) and paved the way for a wave of American independent filmmakers who wanted to work outside the compromises inherent in the Hollywood studio system.
Sayles has remained a true independent, earning Oscar nominations for Passion Fish (1992) and Lone Star (1996) and creating a body of work unrivalled in its scope and desire to address the social and political complexities of contemporary American life.
Honeydripper receives it official UK premiere at the 2008 Glasgow Film Festival, screening at the Glasgow Film Theatre on Saturday February 16th at 8pm and repeated at CIneworld on Sunday February 17th at 6.15pm.
The master-class will be on Sunday 16 February at 4.15pm at the GFT.
The Spiderwick Chronicles screens at Cineworld on Sunday February 17th at 1pm. The John Sayles masterclass takes place at the Glasgow Film Theatre on Sunday February 17th at 4.15pm.
Tickets are available on www.glasgowfilmfestival.org.uk or by calling the box office on 0141 332 6535.
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