Hal
Description
In Amy Scott’s comprehensive and affectionate documentary, the capricious life and career of one of Hollywood’s iconic filmmakers, Hal Ashby, is brought to light. Deftly weaving archival footage, on-camera interviews, and Ashby’s jocular letters and memos (expertly voiced by Ben Foster), Scott reveals a complex and singular visionary who directed some of the most seminal films of the 1970s including the indelible Harold and Maude (1971), The Last Detail (1973), and Being There (1979).
“One of the comparatively unsung luminaries of 1970s American cinema receives a very fine tribute in Hal, an in-depth look at director Hal Ashby. Never a household name like Spielberg, Scorsese, Coppola, or Lucas and without a genuine blockbuster to his credit, the former film editor nonetheless directed seven of the finest and most emblematic films of the New Hollywood Cinema era. Digging deep into the archives for rare and revealing material to accompany interviews with many of his collaborators and intimates, filmmaker Amy Scott packs a lot into 90 minutes with this insightful and warm look at an artist whose best work always revealed a heightened social conscience.” – Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter
Amy Scott began her filmmaking and editing career in Chicago after getting her degree in Film Studies at University of Oklahoma. She taught documentary film at Chicago Filmmaker, was a media producer for the University of Chicago, and served as head digital archivist and assistant to Studs Terkel at the Chicago History Museum. Now based in Los Angeles, she worked on a number of shorts, music, videos, and films prior to making her directorial debut with Hal.
Trailer
//player.vimeo.com/video/259250840Film Details
Language English
Year 2018
Runtime 90
Country USA
Director Amy Scott
Producer Brian Morrow, Jonathan Lynch, Christine Beebe, Lisa Janssen
Editor Amy Scott, Sean Jarrett, Brian Morrow
Cinematographer Jonathon Narducci, Adam Michael Becker, and Alexandre Naufel
Music Heather McIntosh