VISION IN FILM PRESENTED BY CITY & COUNTY OF HONOLULU
032 ALEXANDER PAYNE
Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, ALEXANDER PAYNE (Director, Producer and Screenwriter of our Closing Night Film, THE DESCENDANTS) earned his MFA in Film at UCLA and now makes comedies. He debuted with CITIZEN RUTH (1996) and followed up with ELECTION(1999), which won Best Screenplay awards from the Writers’ Guild of America and the New York Film Critics Circle, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002), premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and opened the New York Film Festival. SIDEWAYS (2004) won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for four others, including Best Picture and Best Director.
His latest work, THE DESCENDANTS, an adaptation of locally-based writer Kaui Hart Hemmings, has already generated a lot of awards buzz after its premiere screenings at Venice, Toronto and Telluride. Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter praised this as Payne’s best film yet. His brilliant perspective in bringing self deprecation and verisimilitude to truly American stories has made Payne the go-to portraitist of 21st century American cinema. Already tackling politics in the midwest, and smarmy yuppies with mid-life crises, his latest landscape, modern day Hawaii, feels as real as walking outside of the Regal Dole Cannery Theatres, capturing the pulse of everyday life in Honolulu.
Part of this verisimilitude is Kaui Hart Hemmings great story, but one can argue it is very much a HIFF story. Payne’s first HIFF visit was in 1996, when he presented CITIZEN RUTH. The trip was transformative for him and he’s always had a connection to this place, and its unique island history. In a way, THE DESCENDANTS is a homecoming for him, as he returns to present his best film yet to HIFF audiences.
HIFF is honored to present the VISION IN FILM Award to America’s cinematic portraitist, Alexander Payne. He will be in attendance at the Closing Night Screening, where he will receive the Award.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
2011 THE DESCENDANTS - Producer, Director, Writer (screenplay) 2006 PARIS, JE T’AIME - Director, Writer (segment “14e arrondissement”) 2004 SIDEWAYS - Director, Writer (screenplay) 2002 ABOUT SCHMIDT - Director, Writer (screenplay) 1999 ELECTION - Director, Writer (screenplay) 1996 CITIZEN RUTH - Director, Writer (written by)
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