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Haskell Wexler is a Actor, Director, Writer, Producer, Director of Photography and Cinematography American born on 6 february 1926 at Chicago (USA)

Haskell Wexler

Haskell Wexler
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Nationality USA
Birth 6 february 1926 at Chicago (USA)
Death 27 december 2015 (at 89 years)
Awards Academy Award for Best Cinematography

Haskell Wexler, A.S.C. (born February 6, 1922) is an American cinematographer, film producer, and director. Wexler was judged to be one of film history's ten most influential cinematographers in a survey of the members of the International Cinematographers Guild.

Biography

Haskell Wexler est né le 6 février 1922 dans une famille juive à Chicago. Ses parents Simon et Lottie Wexler ont quatre enfants: Jerrold, Haskell, Joyce (Isaacs) et Yale. Il a fréquenté l'école Parker Francis, où il était le meilleur ami de Barney Rosset.

Après une année il quitte l'Université de Californie Berkeley et s'engage dans la marine marchande pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. De retour dans son Illinois natal, Wexler et son père achètent et rénovent une armurerie à Des Plaines, le transformant en un studio de cinéma. L'entreprise échoue et ferme en 1947 mais Wexler s'est mis à en apprendre davantage sur la production de films, en commençant comme cadreur et fait ses premiers films comme directeur de la photographie dans les années 1950. Stakeout on Dope Street (1958) est son premier film en tant que directeur de la photographie où il n'est pas crédité d'ailleurs.

Wexler décide par la suite de devenir cinéaste et réalise des documentaires engagés comme Brazil: A report on Torture en 1965 sur des militants brésiliens qui décrivent et, pour plus de clarté, mettent en scène les formes de torture qu’ils ont eu à subir, auxquelles beaucoup de leurs camarades n’ont pas survécu.

Il est le premier directeur de la photographie à utiliser le Steadicam pour un plan-séquence dans En route pour la gloire (Bound for Glory) en 1977.

En 1996, il obtiendra une étoile sur la fameuse Hollywood Walk of Fame ainsi qu'un prix au festival Camerimage récompensant l'ensemble de sa carrière de directeur de la photographie.

Il meurt le 27 décembre 2015 à Santa Monica à l'hôpital Providence Saint John's Health Center "paisiblement dans son sommeil" comme l'indique son fils et ingénieur du son Jeff Wexler.

Best films

American Graffiti
American Graffiti
(1973)
(Other) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
(1975)
(Director of Photography) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
(1966)
(Director of Photography) Coming Home
Coming Home
(1978)
(Director of Photography) In the Heat of the Night
In the Heat of the Night
(1967)
(Director of Photography) The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair
(1968)
(Director of Photography)

Usually with

Hal Ashby
Hal Ashby
(8 films)
John Sayles
John Sayles
(5 films)
Joseph Strick
Joseph Strick
(2 films)
Lynn Stalmaster
Lynn Stalmaster
(7 films)
Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
(1 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Haskell Wexler (56 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

The Story of Film: An Odyssey
The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011)
, 15h15
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry
Actors Alexandre Sokourov, Norman Lloyd, Lars von Trier, Paul Schrader, Kyōko Kagawa, Haskell Wexler
Roles Self
Rating83% 4.1946254.1946254.1946254.1946254.194625
L'histoire du cinéma international racontée à travers l'histoire de l'innovation cinématographique. Couvrant six continents et douze décennies, il montre comment les cinéastes sont influencés par les événements historiques de leur époque et par les autres cinéastes.
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos (2009)
, 1h44
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the visual arts, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, Sharon Stone, John Boorman, Karen Black, Sandra Bullock
Roles Self
Rating77% 3.8610853.8610853.8610853.8610853.861085
This documentary traces the careers of cinematographers László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond. These lifelong friends are Hungarian expatriates who had been studying cinematography in Hungary and defected following the 1956 Soviet invasion. Coincidentally, they also photographed many of the tumultuous events during the invasion.
Battle in Seattle
Battle in Seattle (2007)
, 1h40
Directed by Stuart Townsend
Origin Canada
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure
Themes Documentary films about historical events, Documentary films about politics, Political films
Actors André 3000, Jennifer Carpenter, Woody Harrelson, Martin Henderson, Ray Liotta, Connie Nielsen
Roles Haskell Wexler
Rating65% 3.297573.297573.297573.297573.29757
The film depicts the protest in 1999, as thousands of activists arrive in Seattle, Washington in masses to protest the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999. The World Trade Organization is considered by protesters to contribute to widening the socioeconomic gap between the rich and the poor while it claims to be fixing it and decreasing world hunger, disease and death.
The Big Empty
The Big Empty (2005)

Directed by Newton Thomas Sigel
Origin USA
Actors Selma Blair, Elias Koteas, Richard Kind, Hugh Laurie, Gabriel Mann, Richmond Arquette
Roles Bookstore Customer
Rating70% 3.5329653.5329653.5329653.5329653.532965
A young woman, Alice (Selma Blair), goes to the gynecologist with a mysterious ache inside her. When one doctor can't figure out just what the problem is, she sees another, and still more, until finally one specialist finds that she has an enormous, empty tundra inside of her, the opening of which is her vagina. She is forced into a media parade, brought onto talk shows so that the specialist can talk about his discovery. Alice is treated coldly, like her emptiness is the only thing important about her, and still she aches. A challenge is put forth to see who would be willing to enter the vast tundra and see where it might lead; several men enter and travel for a long time, but find nothing but ice. One young man enters and does not come back out. At the end, Alice goes to a beach and stands by the water. In a rush, the ice from the emptiness inside her flows out, freezing the ocean, and the young man appears beside her.
Visions of Light
Visions of Light (1992)
, 1h32
Origin USA
Genres Documentary, Historical
Themes Films about films, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the visual arts, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentaire sur une personnalité
Actors Ernest R. Dickerson, Michael Chapman, Vittorio Storaro, Sven Nykvist, Caleb Deschanel, Néstor Almendros
Roles Self
Rating76% 3.8417453.8417453.8417453.8417453.841745
The film is the equivalent of a walk through a cinema museum. The doc interviews many modern-day directors of photography and they illustrate via examples their best work and the scenes from films that influenced them to pursue their art.
Coming Home
Coming Home (1978)
, 2h7
Directed by Hal Ashby
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Romance
Themes Medical-themed films, Politique, Films about sexuality, Films about disabilities, Political films
Actors Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford, Robert Carradine, Robert Ginty
Roles Officer Awarding Medals (uncredited)
Rating72% 3.647533.647533.647533.647533.64753
In the spring of 1968 in California, Sally (Jane Fonda), a loyal and conservative military wife, is married to Bob Hyde (Bruce Dern), a captain in the United States Marine Corps who is about to be deployed to Vietnam. As a dedicated military officer, Bob sees it primarily as an opportunity for progress. At first, Sally dreads being left alone, but after a while she feels liberated. Forced to find housing off the base she moves into a new apartment by the beach and buys a sports car. With nothing else to do, she decides to volunteer at a local veterans' hospital. This, in part, is motivated by her bohemian friend Vi Munson (Penelope Milford), whose brother Billy has come home after just two weeks in Vietnam with grave emotional problems and now resides in the VA hospital.
Underground
Underground (1976)
, 1h27
Directed by Emile de Antonio, Haskell Wexler
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Actors Emile de Antonio, Haskell Wexler
Roles Himself
Rating69% 3.471363.471363.471363.471363.47136
Medium Cool
Medium Cool (1969)
, 1h51
Directed by Haskell Wexler
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Documentary
Themes Films about writers, Films about journalists, Films about television, Political films
Actors Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill, Peter Boyle, Haskell Wexler
Roles Cameraman on Scaffold (uncredited)
Rating71% 3.5952353.5952353.5952353.5952353.595235
John Cassellis is a television news cameraman. In one of the opening scenes, a group of cameramen and journalists are discussing the ethical responsibilities within their profession: When should filming a gruesome scene end and human responsibility to try to save a life begin? As viewers we are presented with issues such as violence as spectacle, political and social discontent, extreme racism, and class divisions. The film is constantly juggling documentary footage with feature film image. Among his sources, Wexler uses footage from military training camps in Illinois for military troops preparing for planned demonstrations by students and anti-war activists during the Democratic National Convention later that summer.

Director

Latino
Latino (1985)
, 1h45
Directed by Haskell Wexler
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Documentary
Actors Robert Beltran, Annette Charles, Tony Plana
Rating58% 2.903522.903522.903522.903522.90352
Set in the context of the Sandinista government in Nicaragua and their battle with the U.S. backed Contra rebels. Eddie Guerrero (Robert Beltran) is a Vietnam vet sent to help U.S. Special Forces train Contra rebels. Eddie falls for a local girl, Marlena (Annette Charles). However, when her father is killed by the Contras things change.
Medium Cool
Medium Cool (1969)
, 1h51
Directed by Haskell Wexler
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Documentary
Themes Films about writers, Films about journalists, Films about television, Political films
Actors Robert Forster, Verna Bloom, Peter Bonerz, Marianna Hill, Peter Boyle, Haskell Wexler
Rating71% 3.5952353.5952353.5952353.5952353.595235
John Cassellis is a television news cameraman. In one of the opening scenes, a group of cameramen and journalists are discussing the ethical responsibilities within their profession: When should filming a gruesome scene end and human responsibility to try to save a life begin? As viewers we are presented with issues such as violence as spectacle, political and social discontent, extreme racism, and class divisions. The film is constantly juggling documentary footage with feature film image. Among his sources, Wexler uses footage from military training camps in Illinois for military troops preparing for planned demonstrations by students and anti-war activists during the Democratic National Convention later that summer.