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Hollywood's Greatest Directors

Film studies have become the dominant educational tool for understanding and exploring the greater human condition. In this series, Hollywood's Greatest Directors, some of the world's best professors of film study bring to light the riveting story of how Hollywood and American directors have been the dominant force in creating the world's newest art form, cinema. Hollywood's Greatest Directors presents a chronological series of snapshots that highlights not only the achievements of the greatest directors but the story of the genius of the American system that turned filmmaking into a worldwide industry. At the same time, American directors, always on the cutting edge of social change, have brought new values and perspectives to the nation, telling us who we are as Americans and as people. Hosted by Hollywood veteran Erick Avari, this five part series showcases how this fledgling art form, starting at the beginning of the 20th Century in Hollywood, has come to dominate a global industry while at the same time allowing extraordinary talent to rise to the top.

Hollywood's Greatest Directors  
  • The Silent Era
    Monday, May 13
    1:00 pm on UEN-TV 9.1
    The art of making motion pictures arose in the Silent Era from 1895 - 1927. Program one examines the Silent Era's most outstanding directors who created Hollywood and laid the foundation for the great American cinematic tradition. Chapters: The Invention of Film and Hollywood - 1910 - D.W. Griffith Establishes Hollywood. 1912 - Mack Sennett Founds Keystone Studios. 1913 - Lois Weber, Pioneering Female Director. 1924 - Buster Keaton, an American Original. 1925 - Charlie Chaplin, the First Auteur.
  • The Coming of Sound
    Monday, May 20
    1:00 pm on UEN-TV 9.1
    When Warner Brothers Studios released The Jazz Singer, the first 'talkie', in 1927, it spelled the end of the Silent Era. Program two shows how sound revamped Hollywood, how filmmaking evolved into the 'studio system' and how the first wave of creative directors including Howard Hawks, George Cukor and Dorothy Arzner began shaping the art of cinema. Chapters: The Growth of the Studio System. 1932 - Howard Hawks Directs Scarface. 1939 - Oscar Micheaux, First Black Feature Film Director. 1940 - George Cukor Directs The Philadelphia Story. 1940 - Dorothy Arzner, Hollywood's Greatest Female Director. 1941 - Orson Welles, Citizen Kane.
  • The Golden Age of Hollywood
    Monday, May 27
    1:00 pm on UEN-TV 9.1
    Program three discusses the Golden Age of American Cinema and how internationally acclaimed directors such as John Huston, John Ford and Frank Capra gave the world unparalleled films for over twenty years. It was also the time of American cinema's transition from pure entertainment to social critique. Chapters: America Dominates World Cinema. 1941 - John Huston Brings Film Noir to Hollywood. 1944 - Vincente Minnelli Directs Meet Me in St. Louis. 1946 - Frank Capra, It's a Wonderful Life. 1956 - John Ford, Master of the Western.
  • The New Hollywood
    Monday, June 3
    1:00 pm on UEN-TV 9.1
    In the 1950s with the arrival of television, the Studio System began a decade long decline that brought Hollywood to its knees. In program four, we'll see how a new generation of great directors revitalized Hollywood and American Cinema, producing some of the greatest movies of all time. Educated in film schools, these directors understood the history and position of cinema as a social force. Chapters: Hollywood's Second Golden Age. 1967 - Mike Nichols, The Graduate. 1969 - Sam Peckinpah Redefines the Western. 1973 - Terrence Malick, Existential Philosopher. 1974 - Mel Brooks, King of Comedy. 1976 - Martin Scorsese Directs Taxi Driver. 1976 - Sidney Lumet Gives Expression to America's Angst.
  • The Modern Era
    Monday, June 10
    1:00 pm on UEN-TV 9.1
    Program five shows how in the 21st Century a new wave of American directors became known as the authors of their films. Hollywood had gone corporate, investing its money in action blockbusters and distributing what are called Indies, independent features that were bringing home the Oscars for best picture. In this program we focus on the most creative of these independent directors. Chapters: The New Wave. 1986 - Oliver Stone Wins His First Oscar for Directing. 1989 - Spike Lee, Black Auteur. 1992 - Clint Eastwood Receives His First Oscar for Best Director. 2007 - P.T. Anderson Writes and Directs There Will Be Blood. 2008 - Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler. 2010 - Kathryn Bigelow Wins the Oscar for Best Director.

 

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  • The Modern Era
    Monday, March 4
    1:30 pm on UEN-TV 9.1
    Program five shows how in the 21st Century a new wave of American directors became known as the authors of their films. Hollywood had gone corporate, investing its money in action blockbusters and distributing what are called Indies, independent features that were bringing home the Oscars for best picture. In this program we focus on the most creative of these independent directors. Chapters: The New Wave. 1986 - Oliver Stone Wins His First Oscar for Directing. 1989 - Spike Lee, Black Auteur. 1992 - Clint Eastwood Receives His First Oscar for Best Director. 2007 - P.T. Anderson Writes and Directs There Will Be Blood. 2008 - Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler. 2010 - Kathryn Bigelow Wins the Oscar for Best Director.