Jim Jarmusch
Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch can take the seemingly mundane aspects of life, such as a taxi ride, and turn them into moments filled with meaning. Jarmusch uses a slow pace, long takes and an outsider's perspective to examine life and death. Born in Akron, Ohio in 1953, Jarmusch was interested in writing, attended Columbia University and later Tisch School of the Arts. Though he never finished his degree in filmmaking, he did meet and work with the filmmaker Nicholas Ray and turned his final thesis project into a well-received film - Permanent Vacation (1980). His break came with the short Stranger Than Paradise (1984) that showcased his cinematic style and themes. Jarmusch takes well-worn genres and turns them on their heads as in Down by Law (1986), a prison break film, and Dead Man (1995) which has been called a post-Western. He often has actors in mind (Johnny Depp, Forest Whitaker, Tom Waits) as he develops the idea for a film and builds the rest of the work around a main character. Music plays a major role in his films, most notably on Year of the Horse with Neil Young and Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai with RZA and the Wu Tang Clan. Jim Jarmusch’s most recent full-length film was Broken Flowers (2005) with Bill Murray.
