Gary Conklin
Encyclopedia
Gary Conklin is an independent American
filmmaker based in Los Angeles
, California
.
Conklin works predominantly in the documentary
genre. His films focus on cultural icons of the 20th century. Subjects have included the late American writer and composer Paul Bowles
, in Paul Bowles in Morocco, which is as much about the North African country as it is about Bowles; Gore Vidal
while running for U.S. Senate in 1982; the American painter Edward Ruscha
, and the Mexican
painter Rufino Tamayo
.
Conklin produced and directed Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture
. The film features interviews with Christopher Isherwood
, Louise Brooks
, and Arthur Koestler
, among others, discussing the culturally significant period of the 1920s in Berlin
, during the Weimar Republic
. He also has produced and directed a documentary about English
literary society during the period after World War I
until World War II
, which includes Stephen Spender
, Anthony Powell
, Harold Acton
, James Lees-Milne
, Peter Quennell
, Christopher Isherwood
, and Diana Mosley. Conklin also made Notes from Under the Volcano about John Huston
's making of the film Under the Volcano
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
filmmaker based in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Conklin works predominantly in the documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
genre. His films focus on cultural icons of the 20th century. Subjects have included the late American writer and composer Paul Bowles
Paul Bowles
Paul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
, in Paul Bowles in Morocco, which is as much about the North African country as it is about Bowles; Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
while running for U.S. Senate in 1982; the American painter Edward Ruscha
Edward Ruscha
Edward Joseph Ruscha IV is an American artist associated with the Pop art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. Ruscha lives and works in Culver City, California...
, and the Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
painter Rufino Tamayo
Rufino Tamayo
Rufino Tamayo was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico. Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, painting figurative abstraction with surrealist influences....
.
Conklin produced and directed Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture
Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture
Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture is a documentary film produced and directed by Gary Conklin, and released in 1976.The film tells the cultural story of Berlin during the Weimar Republic through interviews with a number of persons who were involved in literature, film, art, and...
. The film features interviews with Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
, Louise Brooks
Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...
, and Arthur Koestler
Arthur Koestler
Arthur Koestler CBE was a Hungarian author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria...
, among others, discussing the culturally significant period of the 1920s in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, during the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
. He also has produced and directed a documentary about English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
literary society during the period after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, which includes Stephen Spender
Stephen Spender
Sir Stephen Harold Spender CBE was an English poet, novelist and essayist who concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle in his work...
, Anthony Powell
Anthony Powell
Anthony Dymoke Powell CH, CBE was an English novelist best known for his twelve-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time, published between 1951 and 1975....
, Harold Acton
Harold Acton
Sir Harold Mario Mitchell Acton CBE was a British writer, scholar and dilettante perhaps most famous for being wrongly believed to have inspired the character of "Anthony Blanche" in Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited...
, James Lees-Milne
James Lees-Milne
James Lees-Milne was an English writer and expert on country houses. He was an architectural historian, novelist, and a biographer. He is also remembered as a diarist.-Biography:...
, Peter Quennell
Peter Quennell
Sir Peter Courtney Quennell CBE was an English biographer, literary historian, editor, essayist, poet, and critic....
, Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
, and Diana Mosley. Conklin also made Notes from Under the Volcano about John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
's making of the film Under the Volcano
Under the Volcano (film)
Under the Volcano is a 1984 film directed in Mexico by John Huston with Albert Finney, Jacqueline Bisset, Anthony Andrews and Katy Jurado heading the cast...
.
Filmography
As Producer & Director:- Paul Bowles in Morocco (1970)
- Rufino Tamayo: The Sources of his Art (1972)
- Memories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar CultureMemories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar CultureMemories of Berlin: The Twilight of Weimar Culture is a documentary film produced and directed by Gary Conklin, and released in 1976.The film tells the cultural story of Berlin during the Weimar Republic through interviews with a number of persons who were involved in literature, film, art, and...
(1976) - L.A. Suggested by the Art of Ed Ruscha (1981)
- Gore Vidal: The Man Who Said NoGore Vidal: The Man Who Said NoGore Vidal: The Man Who Said No is a documentary film directed, produced, and edited by Gary Conklin. The film follows famed American writer and political gadfly Gore Vidal in his quixotic campaign against incumbent California Governor Jerry Brown for the Democratic nomination for the United...
(1983) - Notes from Under the Volcano (1984)
- A Question of Class (1992)
- Veracruz, El Espíritu Jarocho (1998)