In French the word means
“attempts”
For me the most important essays have been those collected under the title Essais by the 17th century French writer Montaigne.
His are on an eclectic set of topics, including inequality, thumbs and cannibalism. Mine are mainly about my films and my personal connections to them but may very possibly appear to the reader to be no less eclectic.
My family when I was growing up lived on a dirt road in Katonah, a small town outside of New York City. Around a quarter mile from where we lived, the dirt road runs alongside a reservoir. The entire town of Katonah had been moved in 1897 to accommodate the expansion of the water system for New York City. Today beneath the water of the reservoir are the foundations of the old..
Sound familiar? Close. Right? Actually, Trump said about Senator Schumer on March 18th from the White House, “As far as I’m concerned, he’s become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish any more. He’s a Palestinian.” The reason why I misquote Trump and, to this extent, fictionalize this statement by him is to point out its similarity to another statement.
I received this message today. It was sent to the email address form on my web site. I want to share it with you. I rarely get a compliment that means as much to me personally as this one does.
While doing research for my dissertation which would become the research for A Hole In One, I met a person who told me that his mother had pursued getting a lobotomy for a long time until eventually she succeeded.
Near the end of the millennium, some five years after leaving Paris, approaching the end of my time in graduate school, driving on the Cross Bronx Expressway with my fiancée and my uncle Jimmy, headed into the Bronx to meet part of my father’s family, I listened as…
THE CALLER (2008), my second feature film, was based on a screenplay of which most of it was written by Alain Didier-Weill (1939 - 2018), a French psychiatrist and a prominent Lacanian psychoanalyst who had done his analysis with Jacques Lacan and who became a close friend of mine. He was also a playwright whose works continue to be produced. The screenplay he showed me that became the origin of The Caller was the only one he ever attempted..
Last year when I was flying into Newark from Paris in the early part of the summer, our flight, just as its landing wheels were about to touch ground, had to abort and again ascend back into a dark orange sky. After we landed, turning back on my cellphone, I learned that fires were burning out of control around Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and this was making landings more hazardous in New York and New Jersey. Over twenty years ago..
I remember my father as a master of salad making. Perhaps this was due to his Greek heritage but his salads were definitely not classically Greek, containing, for example, blue cheese. My father’s pride at having been…
I have been in Athens since the start of February and expect to be here at least until early May, working on a project which I will speak about at another time. I love living in Athens. I first visited the city when I was..
At a major cultural institution in New York City, I once served on a committee that had been tasked with making recommendations as to what kind of seating should be installed in new screening rooms they were planning to build. I and the other members..
As many of you know, we have been having a hard time getting V13 into a top festival. Our historical fiction film recounts the origins in Vienna before WW1 of what would become the Nazi Weltanschauung. One esteemed source in the industry told us that..
In the spring of 1986, I took a trip from Paris to London, crossing the channel by ferry, to visit my friend John Kimber. He has since disappeared.
Thinking about finding an audience for the film, I remembered long ago hearing about a prop George Lucas always used when he was raising money for STAR WARS. It was a map of the United States with pins stuck in it. He would place it behind him when he spoke to his potential investors.
With the actors strike having ended, I can finally take care of the Additional Dialogue Recording (ADR) that was holding us back from completing V13.
Betty Milan has published a book with the title “Adieu Lacan,” named after the film I made based on two of her works that are contained in it. I wrote the postface to one of the works in the book.
Exciting news to share: For those of you who live outside the English-speaking world and have wanted to see ADIEU LACAN, it is now possible. Starting immediately, here on my website you will find the following link to watch the film on Eventive.
Richard Hamon has made two documentaries that should be of particular interest to anyone who, like myself, has a passion for American culture: 2004 Howard Fast, Histoire d’un Rouge (Howard Fast, the Story of a Red)
Richard Hamon a réalisé deux films documentaires qui devraient être particulièrement intéressants pour qui a, comme moi, une passion pour la culture américaine: Howard Fast, Histoire d’un Rouge, réalisé en 2004 et […]
Antu Yacob on playing Gloria in ADIEU LACAN
David Patrick Kelly speaks about playing Jacques Lacan in ADIEU LACAN
Ismenia Mendes on playing Seriema in ADIEU LACAN.
Imani Oakley, candidate for the US Congress for the 10th Congressional District of New Jersey, makes the case that the way names are displayed visually on the New Jersey ballot unfairly favors certain candidates over others.
SHADOW: A PARABLE, inspired by a story of Edgar Allan Poe, has just been released. It is the second of what I call "Covid 19 Dogma videos," again working remotely and again inspired by a story of Edgar Allan Poe.
![Shadow: A Parable [Premiere]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6752a3f630bde6073bc22c29/1750163239828-HWTIQUI9G916SMGJS6R4/Screenshot%2B2022-07-18%2Bat%2B18.11.14.png)