Peter Sellars Movies

Director Olivier Jahan offers an glimpse into The Director's Fortnight, a sidebar of the Cannes Film Festival conceived by a group of filmmakers known as the Société des Réalisateurs de Films who sought to counter the academism of the main part of the world-renowned festival. Pierre-Henri Deleau, the one-time artistic director of the Société des Réalisateurs de Films, and as his successor Olivier Père take movie lovers behind the scenes as the dedicated group of filmmakers prepare for the 2007 Director's Fortnight. Archive footage, film clips, and interviews with over two-dozen directors offer a comprehensive look at forty years of cinematic rebellion. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The creation of atomic weapons by a team of scientists led by Robert Oppenheimer in 1945 had a powerful impact on nearly every aspect of American culture, so it's not surprising that composer John Adams and director Peter Sellars, two leading figures in contemporary opera, would collaborate on a piece about Oppenheimer and his notorious invention. In 2005, Adams and Sellars teamed up to create Doctor Atomic, an opera that focuses on Oppenheimer during the 48 hours before the first test of the atomic bomb, and filmmaker Jon Else -- whose credits include The Day After Trinity, an award-winning documentary on Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project -- chronicles the writing and staging of this performance piece in the film Wonders Are Many. Wonders Are Many intercuts footage about Oppenheimer's life and career with a detailed look at Adams and Sellars deep in the creative process as they rehearse their cast, work out their staging, struggle to complete last-minute changes in the music and libretto, and attend to hundreds of other details as the date of the premiere performance draws near. Originally created for broadcast on public television, Wonders Are Many also was screened at a number of major film festivals, including the 2007 San Francisco International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's final collaboration, Peter Sellars inter-cuts footage he personally shot in on-location in America with original footage of the stage performance to achieve a striking visual effect. Teresa Stratas and Nora Kimball star, and conductor Kent Nagano leads the Orchestra of the Lyon Opera. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Flamboyant Broadway renaissance man Peter Sellars was the director of The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez. This freewheeling musical horror spoof isn't meant to be taken seriously, so don't be fooled by those Karloffian trappings. Ron Vawter plays the title character for all it's worth. He has to, with such formidable competition as Joan Cusack, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Werner Klemperer, the latter cast as "Fat Man Searching for a Tax Break." There's also a "Beaver Gourmet" in the cast of characters, which should clue you in as to the level of subtlety here. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Sellars' productions of Mozart are infamously radical; the astonishingly creative director has long been celebrated -- and, in turn, reviled -- for his non-traditional stagings and bizarre re-locations of everything from Don Giovanni to Marriage of Figaro (both re-set in New York City). This exciting program features excerpts from Sellars' most controversial pieces, in addition to interviews with the man himself. ~ All Movie Guide

Peter Sellars directs Mozart's "Nozze Di Figaro" accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Craig Smith with the Arnold Schonberg Choir in Italian with English subtitles. ~ All Movie Guide

Two highly talented and innovative directors -- filmdom's Jean-Luc Godard and the theatre world's Peter Sellars -- join forces in this unusual (to say the least) slant on Shakespeare's King Lear. This offbeat adaptation gives the viewer a postmodern taste of Shakespeare through the eyes of a deliberately obscure auteur. The film is set some time after Chernobyl has wiped everything out, and the world is trying to set itself right again. William Shakespeare Jr. the Fifth (Peter Sellars) is faced with the task of restoring his famed ancestor's lost works. He visits a resort in Switzerland and becomes fascinated with a visiting gangster, Don Learo (Burgess Meredith) and his lovely daughter, Cordelia (Molly Ringwald), who converse in actual Shakespearean lines. That's as close to the bard as this King Lear gets. It also includes appearances by Woody Allen, Norman Mailer, and director Godard himself as "The Professor," a deranged individual who seems fascinated with Xeroxing his own hand. ~ John Voorhees, All Movie Guide

This video contains a 2004 production of the opera L'Amour de Loin composed by Finland's Kaija Saariaho. Esa-Pekka Salonen performs the part of the main character. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide