Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
Year: 2019
Country:
USA, SPAIN
Run Time:
105 minutes
William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” still as shocking and effective today as it was in 1973, has been endlessly picked apart—quite literally frame by frame—for decades. Its mythos almost as legendary as the film itself, it may seem as though there’s nothing left to say on the matter. But one voice has been largely overshadowed by stories of on-set curses and fainting audiences: Friedkin himself. Through a six-day, one-on-one dialogue with Friedkin, aptly modeled after the famed Hitchcock/Truffaut interview, Alexandre O. Philippe, the filmmaker’s filmmaker, returns with his unique cinema essay, LEAP OF FAITH: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN ON THE EXORCIST. Utilizing Friedkin as a singular talking-head, the rhapsodic, spiritual documentary gives the auteur space to dig into his wealth of influences, filmmaking philosophies, and specifically the difficult—and often instinctual—production choices he had to make while adapting William Peter Blatty’s novel. A master of his craft, Friedkin is entertaining, eloquent, and never the cynic; his creative vulnerability propels the conversation forward, leading to honest reflections on fate, faith, and artistic vision. Together, Philippe and Friedkin transport viewers to cinephile heaven. — D.O.
CIFF44 Screenings
Friday, March 27, 2020 at 9:20 PM
Saturday, March 28, 2020 at 2:00 PM
Accessibility (?)
Closed Captions: No
Audio Description: No
English Subtitles: No
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Competition
Ad Hoc Docs Competition
Director
Alexandre O. Philippe
Producer
Kerry Deignan Roy
Screenwriting
Alexandre O. Philippe
Cinematography
Robert Muratore
Editing
David Lawrence
Exhibit A Pictures
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