WILLIAM FRIEDKIN

William Friedkin is one of those filmmakers who had an impact on the shift in American cinema in the 1970s and were involved in its renewal and redefinition. Initially a maker of documentaries, the Chicago-born director proposed a new view of cinema, which was more direct and more realistic and made each of his early works an event in itself.

In The French Connection, he takes a hard and naturalistic look at the work of a police officer in 1970s New York. In The Exorcist, he terrified the entire world by revealing how powerless faith is when dealing with the demonic possession of a child. Sorcerer, often said to have sounded the death knell of a richly blessed period in American cinema, is a virtuoso work of despair that, once again, focuses on fanatical anti-Manichaeism.

William Friedkin has crossed the ages and issues debated and tried his hand at crime films, fantasy movies or theme-based films, but his work has never abandoned its insolence and passion. His last fiction work to date, Killer Joe , has a storyline that is both minimalist and rugged at the same time. It bears testimony to the constantly renewed youth of a director who has shaped the history of cinema from his very early days.