Andrew Bujalski

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Andrew Bujalski in 2003's Funny Ha Ha

Andrew Bujalski (born April 29, 1975 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American film director, screenwriter and actor.

1 Bio
2 Style and Content
3 Filmography
4 Awards
5 References
6 External links

Bujalski studied film at Harvard's Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, where the influential Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman was his thesis adviser. He shot his first feature, Funny Ha Ha, in 2002 and followed it with Mutual Appreciation in 2003 (though neither film received theatrical distribution until 2005 and 2006, respectively). Bujalski wrote both screenplays, and appears as an actor, playing a major role in both films. In 2006, he appeared as an actor and contributed to the screenplay of the Joe Swanberg film Hannah Takes The Stairs.

As of 2006, Bujalski teaches undergraduate production courses at Boston University.

Bujalski's witty, unassuming films are often compared to the works of directors John Cassavetes, Maurice Pialat and Mike Leigh and held up as examples of true independent cinema. Both of his feature films were photographed on hand-held 16mm by Austrian cinematographer Matthias Grunsky and have a decidedly "lo-fi" feel (reinforced by Funny Ha Ha's distorted mono sound). The actors who appear in the films are non-professionals, many drawn from other media, including animator Kate Dollenmayer as the lead in Funny Ha Ha, musician Justin Rice as the lead in Mutual Appreciation and experimental filmmaker Bill Morrison in a supporting role in the same film.

Though his films often appear "improvised", they are for the most part scripted; the dialogue is often noted for its drawn-out, awkward nature, with characters frequently evading key topics. Many of the films seem to start and end in media res, giving the films a "slice of life" feeling that suggests a larger narrative or world that we are looking in on.

The characters in Bujalski's films are mostly post-collegiate and middle-class, with many working white collar jobs. The desire for stability is a recurring theme, with many characters rushing headlong into attempts at a more controlled existence--this is exemplified by the one of the main characters in Funny Ha Ha eloping with his ex-girlfriend.