Eugene Kotlyarenko (Co-writer/director, Spree)
Eugene Kotlyarenko. Photo by Petra Cortright
Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man by Marshall McLuhan
Everything McLuhan was saying about television, movies and radio in 1964 hits 10 times harder when applied to smartphones and social media. Chapters on Narcissus as narcosis and hybridized media don’t just feel like a prescient diagnosis, but seem to offer strategies on a way out of the screen-opticon we find ourselves trapped in.
Elia Kazan: A Life
An 800-page, can’t-put-it-down, guilt trip through the first half of 20th century theater, film, politics and NYC. Kazan passes brutal judgment on everyone he’s ever met with the observational clarity you’d expect from the director of On the Waterfront, A Face in the Crowd and one of my faves, Wild River. Reserving the harshest criticism for himself, he paints a clear picture of an insecure first-gen striver with endless imposter syndrome, spending close to 100 pages alternately justifying and excoriating himself for naming names to HUAC. During our moment of casual public denunciation, going through the thought process of this notorious snitchery is fascinating.
The Key by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
The ultimate perverse relationship mystery. I revisit The Key every few years, trying to get a handle on how to make the definitive adaptation (outta my way Kon Ichikawa and Tinto Brass).
Nathan Silver (Co-writer/director, The Great Pretender)
Nathan Silver
Interviews with Francis Bacon by David Sylvester
I have trouble reading books from cover to cover these days. I pick up a lot of things, take in what I can, then place them in some corner of the apartment I avoid so as not to feel bad about leaving them unfinished. Maybe that’s why this book immediately came to mind. You can open it at random, read a page or two, and come away feeling the effects for a decent chunk of time. Bacon tries to be evasive in his answers, but, happily for the reader, he’s a total failure at this. He reveals himself again and again and generates that thing lacking in so much: empathy. If I ever own a house, I’d like to build a bookcase by the toilet, and fill it with books that pack at least one punch on every page. This is all to say: Interviews would hold a prime spot in my pantheon of “toilet books.”
Other “Toilet Books:”
• The Witkiewicz Reader by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz
• Reza Abdoh (PAJ Books: Art + Performance) edited by Daniel Mufson
• Anything by Kathy Acker and David Wojnarowicz
Sophia Banks (Director, Black Site)
Sophia Banks
1984 by George Orwell
1984 is my favorite book of all time and one that I feel remains relevant today, and will likely continue to be so throughout the ages. I re-read it again recently and still marvel at George Orwell.
The Five C’s of Cinematography by Joseph V. Mascelli
This was the book I read before I shot my first movie earlier this year. This has been a pivotal read for me as a director and my drive to keep learning more so I can always do my best. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn invaluable information about filmmaking.
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
This was the book Orwell read before he wrote 1984. I just finished reading it recently. It’s a fascinating take on dystopian sci-fi.
Adam Piron (Associate director, Indigenous program + film programmer, Sundance Institute)
Adam Piron
Our Own Image: A Story of a Maori Filmmaker by Barry Barclay
Barry Barclay has a particular standing within the history of Indigenous cinema. His films marked a radical shift in how documentaries were being made by Indigenous filmmakers, particularly the Maori, in this case. He offers so many valuable insights in this book about his formal approaches, what worked and what didn’t, and more importantly what it means for an Indigenous artist to approach cinema in a way that’s rooted from culture and community.
The Films of Doris Wishman edited by Peggy Ahwesh
I’ve been spending a lot of time with Doris Wishman’s work over the past year and I’ve yet to come across anything as comprehensive about her films as this zine, put together by Peggy Ahwesh, Light Industry and Inpatient Press. So much of Wishman’s work feels like it’s out of a fever dream, out of time and of a different dimension, that this work feels like a rare manuscript. I love this publication so much, I still keep it in the plastic covering I got it in.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn by Nick Pinkerton
Nick Pinkerton’s essay on Tsai Ming-liang’s 2003 film seems like it couldn’t have come at a more important time. With this past year bringing up so many questions and yearning for the theatrical experience, I’ve been thinking a lot about both this film and this book in particular. It’s been one of the more enriching and urgent reflections on the state of things, as well as their possibilities.
Christine Haroutounian (Writer-director, “World”)
Christine Haroutounian
Operation Nemesis by Eric Bogosian
What does reconciliation look like in the face of exponential violence and injustice? Operation Nemesis details the covert assassination
campaign led by seven avengers whose targets were the Ottoman perpetrators of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Whether it is a refusal or admission of being superfluous within the machinery of power, Bogosian’s account plays in my mind like Alan Clarke’s Elephant.
Smile at Fear: Awakening the True Heart of Bravery by Chögyam Trungpa
At the other extreme of unconditional fearlessness, Chögyam Trungpa’s writing is a reminder that nonviolence can also be the warrior’s way. Unhooking allows for an honest observation of the world from a place that is expansive and vivid. This is much harder in practice than theory. While Trungpa’s personal struggles with addiction can be off-putting to some, he embodies how messy the process of facing oneself often is.
Illustrations courtesy of Shutterstock
Continue for summer reading recommendations from Sean Price Williams, Sean Durkin and more
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