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      Chloé Zhao Is First Chinese Woman Nominated for Best Director at the Oscars

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      The “Nomadland” filmmaker scored other Oscar mentions: best adapted screenplay and best editing. Her film is up for best picture and her star, Frances McDormand, is up for best actor.With the announcement of the Oscar nominations on Monday, the filmmaker Chloé Zhao has become the first Chinese woman and the first woman of color to be nominated for best director.Zhao directed “Nomadland,” which she also adapted from the nonfiction book of the same name by Jessica Bruder. Zhao was also nominated for her screenplay and for editing. The drama is up for best picture.In the movie, Frances McDormand, who was nominated Monday for best actress, stars as Fern, a widow with a strong independent streak who takes up van life and itinerant work, meeting similarly uprooted fellow travelers on the road. Praising the director in his review, The Times’s co-chief film critic A.O. Scott wrote, “‘Nomadland’ is patient, compassionate and open, motivated by an impulse to wander and observe rather than to judge or explain.”Zhao is at work on her next movie, the Marvel superhero team-up “The Eternals,” but issued a statement on Monday: “I’m so thrilled for our nominations! Thank you to the academy. I’m grateful to have gone on this journey with our talented team of filmmakers and to have met so many wonderful people who generously shared their stories with us. Thank you so much to my academy peers for recognizing this film that is very close to my heart.”Zhao, 38, grew up in Beijing and, according to a profile in New York magazine, moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to attend high school. After film school at New York University, she made her feature debut with “Songs My Brother Taught Me,” a 2016 drama set on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota that she followed up in 2018 with the much praised western “The Rider.”In China, her accomplishments this season were initially celebrated. But then nationalists found an old interview she gave criticizing China, and references to “Nomadland” (including hashtags on social media) were removed. But the film is still scheduled for an April 23 release there.Only five women have ever been up for the best director Oscar: Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”), Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”), Sofia Coppola (“Lost in Translation”), Jane Campion (“The Piano”), and Lina Wertmüller (“Seven Beauties”). And only Bigelow went on to win, in 2010.Could Zhao become the second? All along this awards season, she has been a front-runner, picking up the Golden Globe for best director last month and the Critics Choice award in the same category this month, as well as a string of honors from critics groups in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere.Zhao is known for casting nonprofessional performers and drawing character details from real life. Adapting Bruder’s book herself, a task that included researching how itinerant Americans live, she hired some of the people depicted in the book to play themselves onscreen. She pushed her star, Frances McDormand, to work the jobs her character, Fern, does, like working in a warehouse.“It’s very interesting, the layers of it,” Zhao told The Times’s Kyle Buchanan. “Fran is playing Fern, but even the name ‘Fern’ came from herself and who she thinks she might be if she hit the road.” More

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      ‘Promising Young Woman’ Director Emerald Fennell on Her Historic Oscar Nomination

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Awards SeasonOscar Nominations HighlightsNominees ListSnubs and SurprisesBest Director NomineesStream the NomineesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe Projectionist‘Promising Young Woman’ Director Emerald Fennell on Her Historic Oscar NominationFor the first time, two women are up for best director, but a daylight-saving time mix-up almost kept the filmmaker from the announcement.Emerald Fennell, second from right, on the set with, among others, Carey Mulligan, left, and Laverne Cox.Credit…Merie Weismiller Wallace/Focus Features, via Associated PressMarch 15, 2021Updated 1:12 p.m. ET“Promising Young Woman” has been a major player this awards season, and writer-director Emerald Fennell had every reason to expect that Monday’s Oscar nominations would bring even more good news for her first feature.She just didn’t want to do herself in by dwelling on it.“Last night, I think I did what any sensible person would do: I watched about six hours of ‘Married at First Sight Australia’ to take my mind off it,” Fennell said. “Especially when you’re making an independent film, you can’t ever hope for something like this.”And after all that anticipation, Fennell almost missed the announcement entirely: The British filmmaker had planned to watch the nominations live, but she hadn’t factored in the hour lost to daylight saving. As her nomination for best original screenplay was read, an oblivious Fennell was still on a work call fielded from her office in the English countryside.She had a hunch something had gone wrong — or, oh so right — when her phone began to blow up with text messages: “I had to say very embarrassingly to the person on the call, ‘I’m sorry, I have to go, I think I’ve just been nominated for an Oscar!’”At least Fennell switched over in time to watch “Promising Young Woman” garner additional nominations for editing, directing and lead actress Carey Mulligan, as well as a final nod for best picture. How did she react as those nominations were read out? “There was a huge amount of screaming and crying,” Fennell said. “I don’t know what everyone else does.”It’s all the more meaningful for Fennell because her recognition alongside the “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao is the first time that more than one woman has been nominated for the best-director Oscar in the same year. (Only five women have ever been nominated for that award.)“There’s no way of describing it without sounding immensely cheesy, but it means so much and I’m so proud,” Fennell said. “Chloé is such a devastatingly brilliant and talented person, and in fact, there were so many incredible female directors this year I want to meet in real life and hug, when we’re allowed.”In the meantime, Fennell has a flood of texts to respond to — she read me her favorite, from her friend Chris: “Congratulations, I still haven’t seen it” — and the rest of her day to get through. The idea of suddenly filling all that time caused her no end of consternation.“I don’t know what to do! What should I do, you tell me!” she fretted. “I can’t watch any more ‘Married at First Sight.’ I think I’m going to have to lie on the floor and cry because I don’t drink or smoke anymore or do anything fun.” Fennell sighed: “I’m just going to look out the window, I suppose.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Riz Ahmed on Being the First Muslim Nominated for the Best Actor Oscar

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Awards SeasonOscar Nominations HighlightsNominees ListSnubs and SurprisesBest Director NomineesStream the NomineesAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyRiz Ahmed on Being the First Muslim Nominated for the Best Actor OscarThe star of “Sound of Metal” is also part of another academy record: with Steven Yeun of “Minari,” it’s the first time two men of Asian descent are up for best actor at the same time.Riz Ahmed in a scene from “Sound of Metal.” He learned both American Sign Language and drumming for the part.Credit…Amazon Studios, via Associated PressMarch 15, 2021, 12:14 p.m. ET More

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      2021 Oscars Nominees List

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Awards SeasonliveOscar Nominations UpdatesOscar Nomination PredictionsOscars Dos and Don’tsOscars DiversityDirectors Guild NominationsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story2021 Oscars Nominees ListA list of the Academy Award nominees for 2021.The 2021 Academy Awards will air April 25.Credit…Etienne Laurent/EPA, via ShutterstockMarch 15, 2021Updated 8:38 a.m. ET[Follow live coverage and analysis of the Oscar nominations.]This time last year, the red carpets were already back in storage.The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on April 25, more than two months later than last year’s ceremony. The awards will recognize films released during a year in which movie theaters were largely closed.Streaming services, which were already on the rise as an awards-season presence, are poised to dominate, both with their own productions (like Netflix’s “Mank”) and with traditional studio films that were released through streaming platforms because of the pandemic (like Searchlight Pictures’s “Nomadland,” which is streaming on Hulu).Nominations will be announced on Monday morning. See below for the full list, which will be updated as nominees are announced.Best ActorRiz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”Anthony Hopkins, “The Father”Gary Oldman, “Mank”Steven Yeun, “Minari”Best ActressViola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”Andra Day, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman”Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”Best Supporting ActorSacha Baron Cohen, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah”Leslie Odom Jr., “One Night in Miami”Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”Lakeith Stanfield, “Judas and the Black Messiah”Best Supporting ActressMaria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”Glenn Close, “Hillbilly Elegy”Olivia Colman, “The Father”Amanda Seyfried, “Mank”Yuh-Jung Youn, “Minari”Original Screenplay“Judas and the Black Messiah”“Minari”“Promising Young Woman”“Sound of Metal”“The Trial of the Chicago 7”Adapted Screenplay“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”“The Father”“Nomadland”“One Night in Miami”“The White Tiger”Production Design“The Father”“Mank”“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”“News of the World”“Tenet”Costume Design“Emma”“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”“Mank”“Mulan”“Pinocchio”Cinematography“Judas and the Black Messiah”“Mank”“News of the World”“Nomadland”“The Trial of the Chicago 7”Editing“The Father”“Nomadland”“Promising Young Woman”“Sound of Metal”“The Trial of the Chicago 7”Makeup and Hairstyling“Emma”“Hillbilly Elegy”“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”“Mank”“Pinocchio”Sound“Greyhound”“Mank”“News of the World”“Soul”“Sound of Metal”Visual Effects“Love and Monsters”“The Midnight Sky”“Mulan”“The One and Only Ivan”“Tenet”Score“Da 5 Bloods”“Mank”“Minari”“News of the World”“Soul”International Feature“Another Round,” Denmark“Better Days,” Hong Kong“Collective,” Romania“The Man Who Sold His Skin,” Tunisia“Quo Vadis, Aida?” Bosnia and HerzegovinaDocumentary Short“Colette”“A Concerto Is a Conversation”“Do Not Split”“Hunger Ward”“A Love Song for Latasha”Live-Action Short“Feeling Through”“The Letter Room”“The Present”“Two Distant Strangers”“White Eye”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      What’s on TV This Week: ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ and ‘Genius: Aretha’

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Grammy AwardsGrammys: What HappenedWinners ListBest and Worst MomentsBeyoncé Breaks RecordRed CarpetAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWhat’s on TV This Week: ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ and ‘Genius: Aretha’Revisit the 2011 adaptation of John le Carré’s “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” Or see Cynthia Erivo play Aretha Franklin in National Geographic’s “Genius: Aretha.”Gary Oldman in “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.”Credit…Jack English/Focus FeaturesMarch 15, 2021, 1:00 a.m. ETBetween network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, March 15-21. Details and times are subject to change.MondayTINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY (2011) 8 p.m. on HBO2. John le Carré, who died in December at 89, made a name for himself writing espionage novels with spy characters that are flawed and fallible. If they order vodka martinis it’s probably to stave off loneliness, not to look suave. Such is the case with the MI6 officer George Smiley, a recurring character in le Carré’s novels and the focus of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” which concerns an aging Smiley’s efforts to weed out a double-agent in the service’s ranks. Gary Oldman plays Smiley in this film version, which was directed by Tomas Alfredson and which, in her review for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis called a “superb” adaptation of le Carré’s novel. Oldman, she wrote, gives “a fascinatingly gripping performance that doesn’t so much command the screen, dominating it with shouts and displays of obvious technique, as take it over incrementally, an occupation that echoes Smiley’s steady incursion into the mole’s lair.”ROBIN AND MARIAN (1976) 6 p.m. on TCM. Five years after ostensibly hanging up his James Bond tux with “Diamonds Are Forever,” Sean Connery starred opposite Audrey Hepburn in this swashbuckling take on the Robin Hood legend. Connery plays an aging Robin Hood, who, after the death of Richard the Lionheart (Richard Harris), returns to Sherwood Forest to discover that Maid Marian, who has become the mother superior of a convent, has come under threat from Robin Hood’s nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw). The adventure is set to a score by John Barry, who also wrote the musical accompaniment for a slew of James Bond movies, including most of Connery’s.TuesdayMAYANS M.C. 10 p.m. on FX. This “Sons of Anarchy” spinoff has offered a distinctive blend of gasoline and adrenaline since its debut in 2018. The third season, which premieres on Tuesday night, continues the story of Ezekiel “E.Z.” Reyes (J.D. Pardo). It picks up after the events of the show’s intense Season 2 finale, which included a consequential murder.WednesdayThe singer Leon Bridges performing in 2016. Bridges is one of several artists slated to appear in the TV special “A Grammy Salute to the Sounds of Change.”Credit…Amy Harris/Invision, via Associated PressA GRAMMY SALUTE TO THE SOUNDS OF CHANGE 9 p.m. on CBS. The hip-hop artist Common will host this two-hour special, which will pay tribute to music’s ability to catalyze social change. Artists slated to appear include Yolanda Adams, Andra Day, Cynthia Erivo, John Fogerty, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Brad Paisley, Leon Bridges, Billy Porter and Gloria Estefan. The ongoing criticism of the Grammys’ lack of diversity, including its poor record of recognizing people of color, is bound to create some dissonance — but the power of the artists, including those involved here, was never in question.FINIAN’S RAINBOW (1968) 5:30 p.m. on TCM. Four years before “The Godfather,” Francis Ford Coppola helmed this film adaptation of the 1947 fantasy musical “Finian’s Rainbow.” The story follows an Irish father (Fred Astaire) and daughter (Petula Clark) who steal a leprechaun’s pot of gold, then flee to the United States. While the film has its fans — including the Coen Brothers, who have expressed a love for it — it was largely panned by critics, including Renata Adler, who in her review for The Times in 1968 referred to the film as a “cheesy, joyless thing.”ThursdaySHREK (2001) 6 p.m. on Freeform. This spring marks 20 years since Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz teamed up in the original, animated, tongue-in-cheek “Shrek” fairy tale. Its original audience might enjoy revisiting it for a dose of nostalgia — or perhaps to show it to their own children.FridayRenée Fleming and Robert Ainsley in “Great Performances at the Met.”Credit…Metropolitan OperaGREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). The New York performing arts venue the Shed announced last week that it will be reopening for indoor performances next month, with a lineup that includes a concert from the soprano Renée Fleming. But even most people who feel ready to return to indoor performances won’t get to go — the size of the virus-tested audience will be limited. Instead, they can get their Fleming fix remotely on Friday, when PBS airs this episode of “Great Performances at the Met.” The recorded program includes arias by Puccini and Massenet, plus works by Handel and Korngold. PBS is pairing it with “Live From Lincoln Center Presents: Stars In Concert” with Andrew Rannells, which airs at 10 p.m.SaturdayRELIC (2020) 8 p.m. on Showtime. Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote and Robyn Nevin play three generations of women haunted by one case of dementia — and perhaps more — in this horror debut from the director Natalie Erika James. The plot revolves around Edna (Nevin), an octogenarian who goes missing from her rural home. When Edna’s daughter (Mortimer) and granddaughter (Heathcote) go looking for her, they discover a sinister presence within the home’s dusty walls. In her review for The Times, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that the film creates a “surpassingly creepy atmosphere and a patiently ratcheting unease.” The story, she added, “deftly merges the familiar bumps and groans of the haunted-house movie with a potent allegory for the devastation of dementia.”SundayCynthia Erivo in “Genius: Aretha.”Credit…Richard DuCree/National GeographicGENIUS: ARETHA 9 p.m. on National Geographic. The first two seasons of this National Geographic anthology series focused on the lives of Pablo Picasso (Antonio Banderas) and Albert Einstein (Geoffrey Rush). The third season, debuting Sunday night, dramatizes the life of Aretha Franklin (Cynthia Erivo). It was originally slated to air in May of last year, but was pushed back after the pandemic caused production delays. The new timing offers an interesting opportunity for viewers — the playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, who was the showrunner for this season of “Genius,” also wrote the just-released historical drama “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Watch both back to back to see Parks revisit the lives of two giants in 21st century music.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Zack Snyder’s Rough and Tumble Ride With ‘Justice League’

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyZack Snyder’s Rough and Tumble Ride With ‘Justice League’The director digs into his exit from the original version of the epic and what led to his edit, the Snyder Cut, which HBO Max will release Thursday. “Am I a provocateur? A little bit.”Snyder at his home in Los Angeles. He said of his exit from the original “Justice League”: “The decision to leave was 100 percent mine.”Credit…Maggie Shannon for The New York TimesMarch 14, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ETEven superhero movies can have dual identities.To most filmgoers, “Justice League” is just another misbegotten comic-book adaptation that came and went in 2017 — one in which DC heroes like Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) united to battle an intergalactic foe.But to genre fans, “Justice League” is laden with notorious history: the director Zack Snyder exited the project during postproduction, leaving it to be completed by Joss Whedon (“The Avengers”), who had come on to help rewrite it. The result was an unsatisfying attempt by Warner Brothers to kick-start its own Marvel-style franchise.Snyder occupies a singular space in the blockbuster business. After breakthrough films like “Dawn of the Dead” (2004) and “300” (2007), he has been both praised and pilloried for unapologetically bombastic superhero opuses like “Watchmen” (2009), “Man of Steel” (2013) and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” — his big, brutal dust-up between those two characters, which grossed $873 million worldwide in 2016 yet still ended up a critical and commercial disappointment.The making of “Justice League” coincided with a tragic period in Snyder’s life; his daughter Autumn died by suicide in March 2017, and his family was mourning her while he tried to finish the film.It would be understandable if Snyder had chosen to disown and disregard “Justice League” entirely, but he did not. His fans and cast members promoted online petitions and a hashtag, #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, encouraging him to put forward his own edit of the movie. Eventually, Snyder acknowledged that such a project existed — not a finished version of the film but a rough assembly that Warner Brothers gave him a budget of about $70 million to complete. HBO Max (which, like Warner Brothers, is owned by WarnerMedia) will release this four-hour film, now called “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” on Thursday.From left, Jason Momoa as  Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Ezra Miller as the Flash in the Snyder Cut.Credit…HBO MaxOn a Sunday afternoon this month, Snyder, dressed in a basic white T-shirt that exposed his heavily tattooed forearms, was relaxing at his home in Los Angeles as he spoke in a video interview. In mid-conversation, his 10-year-old daughter, Sage, barnstormed through the room to fiddle with her father’s iPad settings, and he playfully shooed her away.Snyder, 55, is both self-serious and self-aware, sometimes puffing up his own accomplishments and tearing them down in the same breath. He knows that whether his “Justice League” cut is celebrated or panned like the original, it helps burnish his professional standing either way.Riffing on the exorbitant running time of the film, he said facetiously, “It’s like ‘The Irishman,’ but with action. You could say that. That’s a fine review. You could also say it’s the ‘Godfather’ of superhero movies. That’s another fine review.”More sincerely, he spoke of the strange satisfaction at getting to release the Snyder Cut and the toll it had taken on him. “It’s in some ways fun to surf the wave of a cultural phenomenon,” he said. “In other ways it’s terrifying and horrible.”He spoke further about the making of “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” the circumstances that led up to it and whether audiences still want to see his grandiose take on these enduring characters. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.Was there a point, going back to “Batman v Superman,” when you realized you were on thin ice with Warner Brothers?There was a definitely a shift in confidence that they had, and I think that kept multiplying as we went along. They had this giant I.P. [intellectual property] and their confidence in my point of view had eroded.Was it a warning sign when the studio brought in Joss Whedon for rewrites?It was a bit of a red flag. They were like, We think punching up the humor and doing some more fun stuff will be great. I was like, Hmm, I’m happy to shoot a scene if you guys have a good idea. We kicked around a bunch of different writers and they had come in with Joss. He’s a talented writer, no two ways about it. But I really didn’t see the point. And then when I was like, I’m done, I can’t do this, I feel like they were volunteering Joss as the de facto finisher.You left “Justice League” of your own volition?Absolutely. The decision to leave was 100 percent mine. I knew the fight that I was in for with them. And my family needed me, and I needed them. I was in a struggle at home, and then to go to my place of work and be in a second struggle there seemed like an outrageous thing to do to myself and my loved ones.Did you worry about the long-term ramifications your departure might have for your standing with Warner Brothers or your career?For sure. And the truth is, I was in such a place of desperation, I didn’t care. You know what? Good riddance to “Justice League.” I was like, Guys, really? You’re going to give me a hard time? Let’s go. I’ll fight you right now. [Laughs.] I was not in the mood for that kind of thing. I felt like we had done a great job, and the movie was done, even the two-hour-and-20-minute version that the studio had knocked me down to.How did you end up with a director’s cut of the film?Almost every movie I’ve ever made has a director’s cut. When I said, OK, I’m done, I [told] one of the editors I worked with [Carlos Castillón]: Put it together as best you can, and give it to me. A bunch of my inner-circle buddies who worked on the movie always talked about, Oh, maybe we just drop a thumb drive somewhere and let a “fan” [he makes air quotes] find it. And I was like, that’s funny but I think it’s better if it just lives as this thing that no one will ever see. I’ve lost my appetite for the fight.Should he have tried to emulate Marvel more? Snyder said no: “A director has one skill — your point of view.” Credit…Maggie Shannon for The New York TimesWere you dropping hints to its existence in the hopes that it would eventually be released?It was more just me having fun on [the social network] Vero with my fans. Did I think there would ever be a version of this where the fans’ rallying cry got so loud that a big company like WarnerMedia would consider this as an option? Absolutely not. I thought maybe in 10 years, there might be a DVD version where they might go, Hey, maybe it’s worth a couple dollars if we spruce up the Snyder cut.And now the same media company you clashed with on “Justice League” — under different management — is letting you put out your version of it.I appreciate that, I really do. This movie wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for HBO Max; I’m eternally grateful for them. And the viewing experience is still at a hugely high quality. It’s really up to your TV. It’s in the same aspect ratio as “First Cow.” Those two movies share some common DNA, I think. [Laughs.] I really did like “First Cow,” actually. I would love that in a double feature, “First Cow” and the Snyder cut of “Justice League.”Do you see the DC heroes on a grand level, like characters from Wagner or “Lord of the Rings”?It’s obvious I take these characters and their mythology really seriously. I want them to be fully realized as characters, existing in that world. I don’t think that it’s cool to have fun at their expense. And there was a vision that we had, a complete universe, fully fleshed out, that we really wanted to take all the way.Was that to draw an intentional contrast with what Marvel is doing in its movies?I knew it before “BvS,” when we made “Man of Steel.” Marvel is doing something else. They’re doing, at the highest level, this popular action-comedy with a heart. And they have that nailed. An effort to duplicate that is insanity because they’re so good at it. What DC had was mythology at an epic level, and we were going to take them on this amazing journey. Frankly, I was the only one saying that.The release of your “Justice League” brings back some painful memories, but aren’t you savoring it a bit, too?Only in the sense that it’s three years later, and here I am releasing a four-hour version of the movie. It really shows that the consumer is not wrong in a lot of ways. “They can’t handle anything over two hours, they’re going to lose their minds.” They were underestimated, the audience themselves.How long did you want the theatrical cut of “Justice League” to be?My point of view is that the movie should be about 20 minutes longer each time. “BvS” should be 20 minutes longer than “Man of Steel,” and “Justice League” should be about 20 minutes longer than “BvS.” I thought the movie should be a little closer to three hours when I initially went into it. I know that it’s indulgent. The truth is there’s probably about 10 Snyder cuts — there’s a longer version than the four-hour version. There’s a three-hour version. A two-hour and 20. I think I showed the studio two hours and 40 minutes. And then I showed them subsequent cuts of two hours and 30 minutes, and two hours and 28 minutes, and two hours and 22 minutes.How did you end up with enough footage for a four-hour movie?I do it on every movie. I tend to shoot a lot, but it’s really carefully done. It’s not like we’re just running a second camera. Everything is very methodically thought out. When I sit down to draw the movie, the movie is different than the movie the studio wants or that anybody knows about.Ben Affleck as Batman in “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” the director’s cut of the movie.Credit…HBO MaxWhy did you bring back some of your actors to shoot a new finale?I added it because this was going to be the last movie I make for the DCU and to have this entire cinematic universe without Batman and Joker meeting up just felt weird. Jared [Leto] and I had a bunch of conversations about it. I had mentioned it to Ben and I was like, Ben, let’s just do it at my house. I could shoot it in the backyard. Don’t tell the studio and I’m not going to pay you guys. I’m just going to shoot it myself.Is that what you ended up doing?No, what happened is it worked out and we were able to do it for real. And then I called the rest of those cast members and said, Hey, would you guys be down to come around and do it.The actor Ray Fisher raised complaints, alleging that Whedon was abusive to him on the “Justice League” reshoots, which led to an investigation by WarnerMedia and other actors coming forward with accounts of similar experiences with Whedon. Were you aware this was happening?Not at the time. The last thing they wanted to do was call me, complaining about them having a hard time shooting. But in retrospect, do I feel bad that they had to go through that? I do. These guys are my friends, and they’re amazing actors, and they’re strong people. I want them to be taken care of and in a healthy situation. I wasn’t there, so your opinion on it is probably is as good as mine.Why did you end the movie with, essentially, a cliffhanger teasing another movie that’s never going to come?The ask was for my version of the movie.Had you gotten to make further ‘Justice League’ movies, what would have happened in them?It’s the fall of Earth, when Superman succumbs to anti-life. And then sending Flash back in time to change one element so that doesn’t happen. And then the big battle where we beat him. When [the villain] Darkseid comes to Earth, in the movie that you’ll never see, the armies of Earth all unite again, as they did before. This time there would be aircraft carriers and Special Forces guys, all the armies of the world would come together, as well as [Aquaman’s fellow] Atlanteans rising out of the ocean and the Themyscirans [Wonder Woman’s compatriots] coming off their island. That was our big finale. But it’s a long drum roll and guitar solo to get there.Darkseid in “Zack Snyder’s Justice League.” If there were sequels, the character would have had a larger role in those, the director said.Credit…HBO MaxSince “Justice League,” there have been other DC movies, like “Aquaman” and “Shazam!”, that have gotten more enthusiastic reviews and made more money. Does that sting for you, that your films didn’t achieve that?I couldn’t be happier. It doesn’t sting for me at all. Those movies are cool, and they’re really well-made and excellent. But “BvS,” love it or hate it, it’s probably the most mentioned movie in hashtags and references. It’s the closest thing to a cult film that could exist at this level of pop culture. Am I a provocateur? A little bit. Is my job to make some pop-culture piece of candy that you eat and forget about the next day? Nah. I would rather [expletive] you up in a movie than make it nice and pretty for everybody. Let’s be frank, there’s no cult of “Aquaman.” Jason is a force of nature, and by all means, I want there to be 100 “Aquaman” movies because he’s an awesome guy. But it’s not controversial. And I have purposely, because I love it, made the movies difficult.Is it possible that the zeitgeist just didn’t embrace your interpretation of these characters?It could be. And that’s fine, too. I don’t have a dog in the hunt. When I made “Watchmen,” it’s deconstructionist. It’s a movie that pokes holes in your heroes. And “BvS” is the same thing. It’s meant to say, Oh, Batman’s drunk and taking painkillers and he’s sleeping with some anonymous girl. He’s a broken person. He dresses up as a bat and he goes out at night and he beats people up. He has issues. I do think the movie came along at a point where everyone was like, oh, we don’t want that Batman. We want Batman to be the warrior-monk who’s cool. And I personally am fine with that.When you see what Marvel is doing in its movies, do you ever think, I should be doing more of that?No, not at all. I don’t know how to hit a ball any different than I hit it. A director has one skill — your point of view. That’s all you have. If you’re trying to imitate another way of making a movie, then you’re on a slippery slope.Even though the DC movies have retained your principal cast members like Gal Gadot and Jason Momoa, they’re moving away from story lines that your films set up and the sense of a shared universe they established. Do you feel like they’re dismantling your legacy?They are 100 percent moving away. They consider the theatrical cut of “Justice League” as canon. That’s their decision. I wish them all the best, and I hope the whole thing is a giant blockbuster on top of blockbuster on top of blockbuster. The stars of those movies are my friends, and I want them to be prosperous, and I want people to love it.Gal Gadot and Affleck in “Batman v  Superman.” Snyder said of that film, “Love it or hate it, it’s probably the most mentioned movie in hashtags and references.”Credit…Clay Enos/Warner Bros.You’ve been making comic-book adaptations for some 15 years. Are you done with that genre entirely? Do you feel you need to get away from it for a while?I don’t think about it in those terms. It was nice to go do “Army of the Dead” [a coming zombie action movie for Netflix]. They were completely supportive, and it was an incredible, cathartic re-immersion into that relationship. I’m trying to put together this movie called “Horse Latitudes,” a super-microbudget movie that I’m going to go shoot with my buddies in South America. It’s about a man’s journey into his past and how does death shape you? Am I ready to make a movie like that? I think so.Are you still planning an adaptation of Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead”?“Fountainhead” right now is on the back burner, and I don’t know how that movie gets made, at least not right away. We need a less divided country and a little more liberal government to make that movie, so people don’t react to it in a certain way.Meaning, if it had come out in the last few years, it would have struck the wrong tone?I think so. But we’ll see. I’m in no rush.Do you think your “Justice League” has broader implications for the film industry and the lengths that studios will continue to go to cater to audiences?This is a social experiment. For millions of people, it’s, Oh, look a giant superhero movie — I guess that’s cool. But then for a large portion of my fans, it comes custom-made. [As a viewer] you have the perception, more than ever, that the movie was made singularly for you as you watch it. It’s the culmination of this entire experience: I fought and used the hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut, and it’s in my world, in my computer, on my TV, in my house. I don’t think anybody can quantify what that means yet.What will you do when it’s finally released?I have to go to the dentist on the 18th. That’s how my day’s going to be.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      The Swag Must Go On: Hollywood’s Pandemic Oscar Campaign

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }Awards SeasonOscar Nomination PredictionsOscars Dos and Don’tsOscars DiversityDirectors Guild NominationsBAFTA NominationsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyThe Swag Must Go On: Hollywood’s Pandemic Oscar Campaign“There is a why-are-we-even-doing-this feeling,” one industry insider said of jockeying for nominations, to be announced on Monday.Billboards like this one in Los Angeles are recommending films for Oscars as usual, but Hollywood is feeling its way through other promotions.Credit…Tag Christof for The New York TimesBrooks Barnes and March 14, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ETLOS ANGELES — As a potential Oscar nominee for film editing, William Goldenberg should be feeling dizzy right about now. So many tastemaker cocktail parties to attend. So many panel discussions to participate in.So much flesh to press.Instead, his tuxedo has been gathering dust. Mr. Goldenberg, who stitched together the Tom Hanks western “News of the World,” has participated in get-out-the-vote screenings on Zoom, and that’s about it. During afternoon walks with his dog, a handful of neighbors have called out from windows and driveways to say they liked the film. Mr. Goldenberg, an Oscar winner in 2013 for “Argo,” described those impromptu encounters as “really fun.”Such is life on Hollywood’s virtual awards scene, where the pandemic has vaporized the froth (Champagne toasts! Standing ovations! Red-carpet reunions!) and created an atmosphere more akin to a dirge. There is a dearth of buzz because people aren’t congregating. Screenings and voter-focused Q. and A. sessions have moved online, adding to existential worries about the future of cinema in the streaming age.And some film insiders are privately asking an uncomfortable question: How do you tastefully campaign for trophies when more than 1,000 Americans a day are still dying from the coronavirus?Oscar nominations will be announced on Monday, but almost none of the movies in the running have even played in theaters, with entire multiplex chains struggling to stay afloat. “In terms of campaigning, there is a why-are-we-even-doing-this feeling,” said Matthew Belloni, a former editor of The Hollywood Reporter and co-host of “The Business,” an entertainment industry podcast.Ever since Harvey Weinstein turned Oscar electioneering into a blood sport in the 1990s, the three-month period leading up to the Academy Awards has been a surreal time in the movie capital, with film distributors only ever seeming to push harder — and spend more — in pursuit of golden statuettes. In 2019, for instance, Netflix popped eyeballs by laying out an estimated $30 million to evangelize for “Roma,” a film that cost only $15 million to make.But it’s not as easy to influence voters and create awards momentum during a pandemic. Roughly 9,100 film professionals worldwide are eligible to vote for Oscars. All are members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has nine pages of regulations that campaigners must follow. Film companies, for instance, “may not send a member more than one email and one hard-copy mailing” per week. Telephone lobbying is forbidden.The 93rd Academy Awards will take place on April 25, pushed back by two months because of the pandemic.Calling off the campaigns is not an option for Hollywood, where jockeying for awards has become an industry unto itself. Stars and their agents (and publicists) also pay keen attention to campaign parity: Hey, Netflix, if you are going to back up the Brink’s trucks to barnstorm for “Mank,” you’d better do it for us, too.“There are so many egos to serve,” said Sasha Stone, who runs AwardsDaily, an entertainment honors site.Contenders, wary of tone-deaf missteps, have been feeling their way.Sacha Baron Cohen, for one, has been openly mocking the process, even as he has participated in Zoom events to support “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix) and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” (Amazon). Asked by phone how the virtual campaign trail was going, he quipped, “I imagine it’s much better than being on an actual one.”At least no one has pushed him to break into song, he said, recounting how, in 2013, he was asked to belt out a number from “Les Miserables” at a campaign stop. (He declined.)At times, however, Mr. Cohen has been willing to play along. In a skit on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” this month, he pretended to be moonlighting as a black-market vaccine procurer for desperate celebrities. “It seems like you should be focused on your Oscar campaign,” Mr. Kimmel said at one point. Mr. Cohen responded dryly, “This is my Oscar campaign.”There is business logic to the seasonal insanity. The spotlight generates interest from the news media, potentially increasing viewership. For streaming services like Amazon, Hulu, Apple TV+ and Netflix, awards bring legitimacy and a greater ability to compete for top filmmakers.“The business benefit is that we will win deals that we wouldn’t have otherwise,” Reed Hastings, Netflix’s chief executive, told analysts on a conference call last year.Because in-person events have been scuttled this time around, less money has been flowing into the Oscar race.“In a good year, the awards season represents 40 percent of our annual business,” said Toni Kilicoglu, the chief executive of Red Carpet Systems. “And it’s gone. Just gone.” Last year, Red Carpet Systems handled more than 125 awards-season events, including Golden Globes parties and the SAG Awards.Caterers, chauffeurs, florists and D.J.s have also suffered major losses. All after a year when more than 36,000 motion picture and sound-recording jobs were lost in Los Angeles County, according to a county report that was released last month.At the same time, studios and streaming services are still spending heavily on “for your consideration” spreads in trade publications. For $80,000 to $90,000, for instance, campaigners can cover Variety’s cover with voter-focused ads. Hulu recently promoted “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” that way. (“For your consideration in all categories including BEST PICTURE.”) Netflix and Amazon have given films like “Da 5 Bloods” and “One Night in Miami” similar treatment.“It has been a huge, really strong season for us,” said Sharon Waxman, the founder and chief executive of The Wrap, a Hollywood news site. The Wrap hosted 40 virtual awards-oriented screenings in January, underwritten by film companies.“We have another whole round on the way,” Ms. Waxman said.The price for events can be steep. A virtual panel discussion, hosted by Vanity Fair or The Hollywood Reporter, costs around $30,000, the same as last year, when receptions accompanied the events. Studios normally pay $15,000 to $25,000 for a table of eight at the Critics Choice Awards, an additional opportunity to solidify a film’s place in the awards conversation. This year, each guest was charged $5,000 for a “virtual seat,” which some saw as an exorbitant price for a square on a computer screen. (Joey Berlin, chief operating officer of the Critics Choice Association, said it was needed to produce a three-hour TV special and come out even.)With fewer people out on the roads, the billboards don’t appear to be hitting the eyes of as many Oscar voters this year.Credit…Tag Christof for The New York TimesAnd don’t forget the for-your-consideration billboards. One eight-block stretch of Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles has nine of them, with Netflix pushing “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and Warner Bros. extolling “Judas and the Black Messiah.”Those blocks are typically brimming with voters; Paramount Pictures is there, as is Raleigh Studios, where Netflix rents production space. With most people in Los Angeles still holed up at home, however, the thoroughfare was eerily quiet last Monday at 5:30 p.m. Actual crickets were chirping at Paramount’s closed Bronson Gate, which bore a sign reading, “Per government direction, access to the studio is now restricted.”Comical at best, absurd at worst?“The public must be so confused,” Ms. Stone said.None of the studios or streaming services angling for awards would comment for this article. Campaigning, while commonplace, remains a taboo subject. No film company wants to look as if it is trying to manipulate voters.It is easy to understand where they are coming from, though.“Like a political campaign, you have to crest at the right moment,” said Paul Hardart, director of the entertainment, media and technology program at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “You need the maximum exposure at that time. And that’s a hard thing to do. How do you become top of mind at the right time?”So the swag must go on.As part of its promotional effort for “Nomadland,” about an impoverished van dweller, Searchlight Pictures sent a bound copy of the screenplay to awards voters. The Hollywood press corps received “Nomadland” wine glasses, a “Nomadland” license plate, “Nomadland” keychains, a “Nomadland” T-shirt and a 5-by-2-foot “Nomadland” windshield sunshade.To celebrate the film’s Feb. 18 virtual premiere, Searchlight teamed with local small businesses to have a “curated concessions crate” delivered to the homes of invitees. It included artisanal beef jerky, wild berry jam, oranges, pears, dried apricots, dill pickle slices, banana bread, salami (“humanely raised”) and a canister of chocolates.Still, it is hard for publicists to know if such buzz-building efforts are working. They don’t know what academy members are talking about with one another because academy members aren’t talking to one another.“People are relying more on what the critics are saying than what their friends are saying, because people aren’t congregating,” Mr. Goldenberg, the “News of the World” editor, said.On the bright side, the pandemic has made it easier for studios and streaming services to attract voters to awards-oriented screenings, which are followed by Q. and A. sessions focused on various specialties: art design, editing, song composing.In years past, when attendance obstacles included Los Angeles traffic, filling the 468-seat Writers Guild Theater for such an event involved sending out more than 5,000 invitations. Similar events — held virtually — have recently had a higher turnout rate: 1,000 invitations might yield 200 attendees, most of whom even stick around for the post-screening discussion, organizers said.Campaigners have been generating interest with celebrity moderators. Oprah Winfrey interviewed Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) at one. Former President Barack Obama participated in a chat to support the A24/Apple documentary “Boys State.”Netflix paired Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”) with Cher. It may not sound like an intuitive coupling, but even if you weren’t terribly interested in “Mank,” wouldn’t you tune in just to get a peek into Cher’s living room?AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Leon Gast, Director of ‘When We Were Kings,’ Dies at 84

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyLeon Gast, Director of ‘When We Were Kings,’ Dies at 84He spent 22 years making an Oscar-winning movie about the 1974 Ali-Foreman boxing match, considered one of the greatest sporting events of all time.Leon Gast at his home in Manhattan in 1997. His film about the heavyweight fight billed as “the Rumble in the Jungle” won the Academy Award that year for best documentary feature. Credit…Librado Romero/The New York TimesMarch 12, 2021Updated 7:38 p.m. ETLeon Gast, a filmmaker whose 22-year quest to make “When We Were Kings,” a documentary about Muhammad Ali and George Foreman’s epic 1974 boxing match, involved a Liberian shell company, the Hells Angels, a drug deal gone bad, the singer Wyclef Jean and ultimately an Academy Award, died on Monday at his home in Woodstock, N.Y. He was 84.His wife, Geri Spolan-Gast, said the cause was complications of Alzheimer’s disease.Mr. Gast was a young filmmaker who had already directed one major documentary, about New York’s Latin music scene, when he learned in 1974 of a plan by the boxing promoter Don King to stage a combination music festival and boxing match in Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire (today the Democratic Republic of Congo).A company in London had agreed to pay for the dozens of performers at the festival, including James Brown, Miriam Makeba and B.B. King, while Mobutu Sese Seko, the president of Zaire, put up $10 million to split between the boxers in the fight’s main event, Foreman and Ali.Mr. Gast, who had boxed in high school, lugged his projector to Mr. King’s offices in Rockefeller Center, where he lobbied for the job of making a film about the music festival, with clips of the fight interspersed. Mr. King wanted a Black director, but he liked Mr. Gast’s work, and he hired Mr. Gast after he agreed to hire Black crew members.Muhammad Ali sending George Foreman to the canvas during their historic 1974 championship fight. Mr. Gast bet his friend the writer Hunter S. Thompson that Ali, the underdog, would win. He won the bet. Credit…Red/Associated PressThe fight, billed as the “Rumble in the Jungle,” was to take place on Sept. 25, 1974, preceded by the three-day music festival. But on Sept. 17, Foreman cut his forehead while sparring; he needed 11 stitches, and the fight was pushed back six weeks.Many of the boxing fans and reporters who had traveled to Zaire left, but Mr. Gast decided to stick around. He had a sense of the drama unfolding: Ali was 32 years old, considered over the hill for a boxer and certainly no match for Foreman, 25, the reigning heavyweight champion of the world, whose 40-0 record included 37 knockouts.“The time may have come to say goodbye to Muhammad Ali,” one of his admirers, the sportscaster Howard Cosell, said on television, “because very honestly I do not think he can beat George Foreman.”But Ali was unfazed. While Foreman — who at the time was reserved to the point of surliness — refused to be interviewed, Ali opened up to Mr. Gast, who over the next several weeks recorded hours and hours of the former heavyweight champion exercising, sparring, meeting locals and indulging in his famed verbal virtuosity.“If you thought the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait until I kick Foreman’s behind,” Ali said at one point; another time, he said: “Only last week, I murdered a rock. Injured a stone. Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick!”He even suggested when and how Mr. Gast’s crew should film him.“One day Muhammad told us: ‘In the morning when I run, I come around that corner with the sun and the river behind me,’” Mr. Gast told The New York Times in 1997. “‘Put your camera over there. It’ll be a great shot.’ He was right. It was a great shot.”Foreman was favored to win by 4-to-1 odds, but Mr. Gast had faith in his newfound friend. He bet the writer Hunter S. Thompson $100, at 3 to 1, that Ali would prevail.The fight finally took place on Oct. 30 — at 4 a.m., to accommodate audiences watching it in theaters in the United States — under a giant poster of Mr. Sese Seko. Ali had bragged for weeks about how he was going to “dance” around the ring to avoid Foreman’s powerful fists. But instead he leaned back against the ropes, absorbing blows until Foreman wore out, after which Ali delivered a knockout punch. Ali called it his “rope-a-dope” strategy, and it stunned the estimated one billion people watching around the world.Back in New York to assemble the film, Mr. Gast immediately ran into problems. Ticket sales from the music festival were supposed to have paid his production costs, but after the fight was delayed, Mr. Sese Seko had declared it free as a way to drum up attendance.Ali was the undisputed star of the Gast film, playing to the camera and showing off his verbal virtuosity. “I’m so mean,” he said, “I make medicine sick!”Credit…Anthology Film ArchivesMr. Gast couldn’t even get ahold of the 300,000 feet of footage he had shot. The London-based company that Mr. King said would bankroll the project turned out to be a cover for a shell company based in the Cayman Islands and owned by Stephen Tolbert, the Liberian minister of finance. Mr. Gast flew to Liberia to arrange for more money, but before they could make a deal, Mr. Tolbert died in a plane crash.Mr. Gast’s lawyer, David Sonenberg, sued in a British court, and after a year Mr. Gast had his film, plus hours and hours of audio, piled up in the bedrooms and hallways of his apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.What he did not have was money, and so he took on a series of side projects. At one point the Hells Angels hired him to make a film that would counter their reputation as violent criminals — though they undercut their own case when several of them beat up Mr. Gast (without seriously injuring him) for refusing to give them editorial control. (The film, “Hells Angels Forever,” was widely panned.)Not all of Mr. Gast’s moneymaking efforts were film-related, or legal. One night in June 1979 he and at least four other men were waiting by an airport near Charleston, W.Va., for a plane carrying some 10 tons of marijuana, which they were smuggling from Colombia. But the aircraft crashed on landing, spilling its contents down a hillside. Mr. Gast was arrested, pleaded guilty and received a $10,000 fine and five years’ probation.In 1989, after years of struggling, Mr. Gast reconnected with Mr. Sonenberg, who had since become a successful music manager. Mr. Gast persuaded him to underwrite the rest of the production process, and even to let him use a room in his Manhattan townhouse as a studio.Mr. Gast was still intent on centering the film on the festival. But one day one of Mr. Sonenberg’s clients, the hip-hop star Wyclef Jean, was in the studio when Mr. Gast was editing a clip of Ali. Mr. Jean was enraptured, and asked to see more and more of the footage. Mr. Sonenberg and Mr. Gast decided to re-edit the film, this time focusing on the fighters, with the music festival as the background. They brought in the director Taylor Hackford, who helped edit the film and conducted interviews with Spike Lee, George Plimpton and Norman Mailer (the last two had covered the fight as reporters).Mr. Sonenberg suggested calling the film “When We Were Kings” as a nostalgic reference to the musical and sports royalty who gathered for the event. He even got Mr. Jean and his group, the Fugees, to provide music.In 1996, Mr. Gast and Mr. Sonenberg took it to the Sundance Film Festival, where they received a special jury citation and 17 distribution offers. Critics praised the film, which nearly swept the awards for documentary films that season — including, in early 1997, the Academy Award for best documentary feature.At the Oscar ceremony, Ali, who by then had developed Parkinson’s disease, rose from his seat to join Mr. Gast and Mr. Sonenberg in accepting the award. Foreman, his former nemesis, came up behind him. When Ali had trouble mounting the stage, Foreman took his arm and helped him up.Mr. Gast, right, in March 1997 after winning the Oscar for best documentary feature. With him was the executive producer, David Sonenberg, along with Ali and Foreman.Credit…Sam Mircovich/ReutersLeon Jacques Gast was born in Jersey City, N.J., on March 30, 1936. His father, Samuel Gast, worked in real estate; his mother, Madeleine (Baumann) Gast, was a homemaker.Leon played basketball at Seton Hall University and then transferred to Columbia, where he studied film and photography but left without a degree.He found a job at an advertising agency as a still photographer, and his work appeared in Vogue and Esquire. When his company opened a film division, he transferred to making commercials — his first was for Preparation H.Mr. Gast moved away from advertising in the late 1960s as he began to get work in the music industry, designing album covers and making short films. In 1972 he directed “Our Latin Thing,” a cinéma vérité profile of performers like Willie Colón, Jose Feliciano and Johnny Pacheco. Five years later he released “The Grateful Dead Movie,” a concert film co-directed with the band’s lead guitarist, Jerry Garcia.In 1991 Mr. Gast married Geri Spolan, who survives him, along with two sons from a previous marriage, Daniel and Clifford; a stepdaughter, Sara Marricco; and six grandchildren.After “When We Were Kings,” he made two more major documentaries: “Smash His Camera” (2010), about the celebrity photographer Ron Galella, and “Manny” (2015), about the boxer Manny Pacquiao, which Mr. Gast directed with Ryan Moore.Mr. Gast and his wife moved to Woodstock in 2005 and became involved in the Woodstock Film Festival. In 2018 he presented a cut of his latest project, a film about the history of the town.Despite his nearly 60 years in film, Mr. Gast’s career, and most likely his legacy, remains bound to the loquacious boxer he followed around Zaire in 1974 — a fact that he did not seem to regret.“When I started on it, my kids were in grade school,” he told Newsday in 1997. “I’m a grandfather now. I’m 60, and I’ve spent more than a third of my life working on this. I can’t even remember when I wasn’t thinking about it, when I wasn’t thinking about Ali.”Jack Begg contributed research.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More