American New Wave 25: Alistair Banks Griffin

If Sundance is the “Super Bowl” event for burgeoning local filmmakers hoping to first get noticed, then imagine how it must feel to be presenting your first feature at the “World Cup” of film festivals. If you’re a regular reader on the site, then you might remember us profiling Alistair Banks Griffin prior to him premiering his directorial debut Two Gates of Sleep at the Cannes Film Festival. Little did I know that the shoestring budgeted film that played in the Director’s Fortnight section would announce the arrival of one of the talented new voices in the U.S independent film scene. Malickian in appearance and Bressonian in design, Griffin demonstrates his prowess and a meticulous command of the frame, using image, sound and the healing and wrath-like qualities found in nature for an exploration on the fragility of man.

What is most impressive about this Brit born, New Orleans raised filmmaker is his background – he studied film alongside such disciplines as painting and animation. Griffin officially broke onto the scene when he had his 2008 short film Gauge play at the extremely selective New York Film Festival, and prior to that it was his thesis film Dear Julia that would allow him to get his foot in the door, working for video artist Tony Oursler and veteran TV director John Patterson on episodes of Carnivale and Sopranos. Griffin should be travelling the film festival circuit for the better half of the 2010/2011, and he already has projects in development including the adaptation of backwoods-set Oyster, based on award winning writer John Bigenuet’s novel.

Photo credit: Xavier Lambours