Todd Haynes
(January 2, 1961 - living) U.S.A.
Director, screenwriter and independent filmmaker
Haynes is born in Los Angeles, California. He was always interested in the arts, and made amateur movies and painted while he was still a child. In 1985 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and Semiotics with honors, from Brown University.
After he graduated he moved to New York City and made a very controversial short film Superstar. The movie uses dolls instead of actors to tell the the story of the late Karen Carpenter. The movie was a success at several film festivals, and because of a lawsuit by Richard Carpenter (over musical rights) is very hard to see but it is a true classic for bootleg video buyers. His films tend to be cerebral, with meticulous art direction.
His first feature, Poison (1991) was even more controversial. The film was attacked by right wing fanatics who said it was pornographic, anyway it won the Grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival. It is now considered a seminal work of the new queer cinema. His next film Safe (1995) was a very different work for Haynes, it told the story of a women suffering from a breakdown caused by a mysterious virus. Many thought the film was a metaphor of the Aids virus. The movie was a considered to be an outstanding work and was one of the best films of the year.
In his most recent movie Velvet Goldmine (1998), he combines the visual style of 60s/70s art films and his love for glam rock music to tell the story of a fictional rock star's rise and fall. The film proved that Haynes has the talent to be seriously respected by critics and film lovers everywhere. Todd Haynes is a member of ACT-UP.
Films:
- Superstar: the Karen Carpenter story (1987)
- Poison (1991)
- Swoon (1992)
- Safe (1995)
- Office Killer (1997)
- Velvet Goldmine (1998)
- Far From Heaven (2002)
TV:
- Dottie Gets Spanked (1993)
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