Rob Nilsson at 33rd Moscow International Film Festival
Rob Nilsson being honored at the 33rd Moscow International Film Festival (June 23 - July 2) with a retrospective and tribute to his distinguished filmmaking career of thirty films to date.
Rob Nilsson (on the right) with his long-time cinematographer Mickey Freeman
The 33rd MOSCOW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL has paid tribute to ROB NILSSON, the distinguished Berkeley filmmaker and FABA Faculty, with a Retrospective of his films during June 23-July 2, 2011. The Retrospective featured NORTHERN LIGHTS, co-directed by John Hanson (Camera d'Or at Cannes, 1979); HEAT AND SUNLIGHT, (Grand Prize at Sundance, 1988); NEED, from the 9 @ Night Film Series (San Francisco Film Critics Circle Marlon Riggs Award, 2008); IMBUED, starring Stacy Keach (2009); and the World Premiere of THE STEPPES, with veterans of Nilsson's San Francisco acting workshops including lead actress and co-producer Irit Levi, Nancy Bower, and Marion Christian and also featuring Derrick O'Connor (BRAZIL, MONTY PYTHON) and David Hess (LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT).
Nilsson's work—which John Cassavetes has called "beautiful, exciting, imaginative, unfamiliar and outside of that, very good"—has featured cinematography by San Francisco DP Mickey Freeman, and roles from actors such as Ron Perlman, Bruce Dern, Pam Grier, Stephen Lange and Robert Viharo. His films have been produced by David and Carol Richards, John Stout and San Francisco producers Michelle Allen, Marshall Spight, Beth LaDove and Steve and Hildy Burns, with music, sound cutting and mix by Al Nelson and the Noise Floor.
Four of the five Retrospective films were San Francisco productions and NORTHERN LIGHTS, shot in North Dakota, also featured interiors shot on San Francisco locations. From 1992-2005 Nilsson worked with his San Francisco Tenderloin Y Group, conducting acting classes and making feature films with the homeless, inner city residents, local actors and all comers. Nilsson Retrospectives and Lifetime Achievement awards include Mill Valley, Kansas City, St. Louis, Fargo, Syracuse, Yerevan in Armenia, and Silver Lake in Los Angeles. The Filmmaker's Alliance of Los Angeles gave him their inaugural Nilsson Award in 2008 which Nilsson now curates annually.
"To be recognized in the land of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Chekov, Mayakovsky, Isaac Babel and my favorite director, Elem Klimov (COME AND SEE) is humbling to say the least," says Nilsson, whose latest film WHAT HAPPENED HERE?—which he describes as "a road movie/essay about Leon Trotsky, virtue and political certainty"—will be his 30th feature film.
Rob Nilsson will resume his teaching at FABA in September with two of his very popular classes: Expressivity for the Actor and "Direct Action Cinema" Workshop for Actors & Directors.
