UCLA Film and Television Archive The film "What Happened
Was" will be screened tonight as part of "The Movie That Inspired
Me" film series.
By Jacqueline Maar
Daily Bruin Contributor
The film series “The Movie that Inspired Me” gives
filmmakers the opportunity to talk about what they love most
““ movies.
Tonight the UCLA Film and Television Archive presents the second
installment of “The Movie that Inspired Me.” Hosted by
director Curtis Hanson, each evening of the four-part series will
feature a film artist and a movie that has inspired their careers.
After the screening there will be an informal discussion and a
question-and-answer session with the artist.
“These are all famous people and to hear them talk about
what they see in the film, to share their own experience of the
film and why it has inspired them, I think is interesting for
anybody ““ students, the general public, whoever is interested
in films and filmmakers would be interested in this particular
series,” said Andrea Alsberg, head of programming at the UCLA
Film and Television Archive.
The first featured artist of the series, appearing tonight at
the James Bridges Theater, is writer and producer Charlie Kaufman
(“Being John Malkovich”).
After screening Tom Noonan’s “What Happened
Was,” Kaufman will discuss his thoughts about the movie.
 Columbia Pictures Actress Drew Barrymore
will be on campus to screen Woody Allen’s "Annie Hall" on May 31.
“We show the film and afterwards Hanson does a Q-and-A with
the artists in terms of why this particular movie inspired them,
what they like about it, etc.,” Alsberg said. “Also he
talks about the artists’ own work and how they write, direct,
act.”
Other scheduled artists include Drew Barrymore, who will screen
Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall” on May 31, and Sean
Penn, who will screen John Cassavetes’ “Minnie and
Moskowitz” on June 1. The artist and movie for the last
installment on June 5 will be announced at a later date.
“It’s always interesting to hear what successful
filmmakers or filmmakers that we admire were interested in and what
kind of films have influenced them,” said Jonathan Kuntz, a
faculty member at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
“We gain more insight into how they have become successful
filmmakers by looking at their tastes, and we can even maybe find
out more about their films by looking at the films that inspired
them.”
The Film and Television Archive presents many film series
throughout the year. Housing over 220,000 films and television
programs, it is the largest moving-image library in a
university.
“The UCLA Film and Television Archive is on campus and we
screen films several nights a week, providing a wide variety of
programming ““ everything from silent movies to classic
Hollywood movies from the ’40s and ’50s, to
international films to really cutting-edge contemporary
films,” said Kelly Graml, public affairs and marketing
coordinator at the archive, “We basically scour the world and
try to show the best cinema from all different countries and
genres.”
The idea for “The Movie that Inspired Me” came from
a series called “Desert Island Movies,” where
celebrities would come to UCLA to screen movies and talk about
them.
“The whole idea behind it was, “˜What film would you
take if you were stranded on a desert island?’ And we sort of
liked the idea of people who weren’t necessarily us talking
freely about the films,” Alsberg said.
“We had Hugh Hefner, Tom Schnable and we also had Curtis,
and he was so articulate in his choice of film, “˜The
Apartment’ by Billy Wilder, that we thought perhaps he would
want to go further with it. So we talked about it and formulated
this series,” Alsberg continued.
Hanson, well known for his directorial work on films such as,
“L.A. Confidential” and, more recently, “Wonder
Boys,” hosts as well as chooses the artists that appear in
the series.
“The Movie that Inspired Me” series started in 1999
and featured editor Dede Allen, director-producer James L. Brooks,
actor Robert Downey Jr., cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and
production designer Jeannine Oppewall.
Since working on the first “The Movie that Inspired
Me,” Hanson has served as a chairman on several other archive
projects. Alsberg said, however, that this series in particular is
one of Hanson’s favorite projects to work on.
After each artist is chosen, they select a film and give some
insight into its inspiration and driving forces.
“It gives them a chance to talk about something other than
themselves, which I think is something that they like to do,”
Alsberg said.
FILM: “The Movie That Inspired Me”
starts tonight at the James Bridges Theater in Melnitz Hall. All
films screen at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the theater one
hour before showtime. Admission is $7 general, $5 students, seniors
and UCLA Alumni Association members with ID. For more information,
call (310) 206-FILM, or check out www.cinema.ucla.edu.