Oliver Stone to attend Fiff36
Distinguished American director, screenwriter, producer and three-time Oscar winner, Oliver Stone is scheduled to attend the 36th Fajr International Film Festival (Fiff36). Festival Director Reza Mirkarimi broke the news at a presser in Tehran on Wednesday. The legendary filmmaker is best known for the hit films ‘Platoon’, ‘Scarface’, ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ and ‘Natural Born Killers’.
Stone, by name of William Oliver Stone, (born September 15, 1946), is known for his ambitious and often controversial movies. Many of Stone’s films focus on controversial American political issues during the late 20th century, and as such were considered contentious at the times of their releases. His films are filled with a variety of film angles and styles; he pushes his actors to give Oscar-worthy performances, and despite his failures, has always returned to success, fajriff.com wrote.
Stone, the son of a wealthy stockbroker, was raised in New York City. He briefly studied at Yale University before dropping out to teach English in South Vietnam. Stone lived in Mexico for a year and again attended Yale for a short period. In 1967, during the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the US Army. Stone then enrolled in film school at New York University (BA, 1971), studying under director Martin Scorsese.
Stone was deeply affected by his war experiences, and his student films, such as ‘Last Year in Viet Nam’ (1971), dealt directly with the consequences of the Vietnam conflict. As a director, Stone achieved prominence as director/writer of the war drama ‘Platoon’ (1986), for which Stone won the Academy Award for Best Director; the film was awarded Best Picture.
Platoon was the first in a trilogy of films based on the Vietnam War, in which Stone served as an infantry soldier. He continued the series with ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ (1989) — for which Stone won his second Best Director Oscar — and ‘Heaven & Earth’ (1993).
After graduating, he directed the horror movies ‘Seizure!’ (1974) and ‘The Hand’ (1981). Stone also began experimenting with screenwriting, and he won an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for ‘Midnight Express’ (1978), which was based on the true story of a man brutally abused while imprisoned for drug smuggling in Turkey. Stone devoted much of the early 1980s to writing screenplays, and also wrote the acclaimed gangster movie ‘Scarface’ (1983).
Stone’s some other notable works include the Salvadoran Civil War-based drama ‘Salvador’ (1986); the financial drama ‘Wall Street’ (1987) and its 2010 sequel ‘Money Never Sleeps’; the Jim Morrison biopic ‘The Doors’ (1991); and a trilogy of films based on the American Presidency — ‘JFK’ (1991), ‘Nixon’ (1995) and ‘W’ (2008). His latest film is ‘Snowden’ (2016).
Besides narrative films, Stone made two documentaries about Latin American politics: ‘Comandante’ (2003), about Cuban Fidel Castro, and ‘South of the Border’ (2009), which focused on several other leftwing leaders, notably Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. With Peter Kuznick, he also created Oliver Stone’s ‘Untold History of the United States’ (2012).
Presided over by Iranian film writer and director Reza Mirkarimi, the Fiff36 will be held in Tehran from April 19-27.