In 1948, George Marshall, the President of the Screen Directors Guild (which became the Directors Guild of America, Inc. in 1960) announced to its senior members that the Guild would begin an Awards program to honor directors for their directorial achievement. Awards would be given on a quarterly basis, and would culminate in the presentation of the Annual Award for the Best Directorial Achievement to the winning director at the General Membership Meeting. Almost 60 years later, the Awards have grown to include television, documentaries, commercials, and Special Guild Service Awards including the Guild's highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award.
(1964)
Splendid, resonant allegorical drama. A scientist studying insects in the Japanese sand dunes finds himself trapped with a woman in a hut at the bottom of a pit. Superbly directed and photographed (by Hiroshi Segawa). Scripted by Kobo Abe from his acclaimed novel. In Japanese with English subtitles.
(1964) Unrated
Sellers plays a tour-de-force triple role in Kubrick's classic black anti-war comedy. When a crazed general (Hayden) initiates a nuclear attack on the Soviets, the U.S. President (Sellers) deals with the consequences, "aided" by a hawkish general (Scott) and a wheelchair-bound advisor with an obvious Nazi past. Famous for Pickens' ... more
(1964) Unrated
A breakthrough masterpiece of the Czech new wave, about two young men escaping from a transport train to Auschwitz and scrambling for survival in the countryside. Surreal, powerfully expressionistic film, one of the most important of its time. In Czech with English subtitles. Accompanied by Nemec's short "A Loaf of ... more
(1964)
Perhaps Pasolini's greatest film, retelling the story of Christ in gritty, neo-realistic tones and portraying the man less as a divine presence than as a political revolutionary. The yardstick by which all Jesus-films are to be measured. In Italian with English subtitles or dubbed.
(1964)
A haunting, stylized quartet of supernatural stories, each with a surprise ending. Adapted from the stories of Lafcadio Hearn, an American author who lived in Japan just before the turn of the century. The visual effects are splendid. In Japanese with English subtitles.