Andrew Bujalski
American film director
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Andrew Bujalski (/bʊˈdʒælski/;[1] born April 29, 1977)[2] is an American film director, screenwriter and actor, who has been called the "godfather of mumblecore."[3][4]
- Film director
- screenwriter
- actor
Andrew Bujalski | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | April 29, 1977 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | Harvard University |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Spouse |
Karen Olsson (m. 2009) |
| Children | 2 |
Life and career
Bujalski, born in Boston in 1977, is the son of artist-turned-businesswoman Sheila Dubman and businessman Edmund Bujalski. His father is Catholic and his mother is Jewish.[5] He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts,[6] where he attended the same high school as Beeswax collaborator Alex Karpovsky (although the two didn't know each other at the time).[7] Bujalski studied film at Harvard's Department of Visual and Environmental Studies, where the Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman was his thesis advisor.
He shot his first feature, Funny Ha Ha, in 2002 and followed it with Mutual Appreciation in 2003. They received theatrical distribution in 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.
Beeswax and Computer Chess, Bujalski's third and fourth films, were filmed in Austin, where the director lives. Beeswax was released in summer 2009. While making it Bujalski wrote a screenplay adaptation of Benjamin Kunkel's 2005 novel Indecision for Paramount Pictures.
His fourth feature, Computer Chess,[8][9] is a period film set at a computer programming tournament in 1980. It premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and won the Alfred Sloan Feature Film Prize.[10] It is his first feature edited digitally and the only feature film shot almost exclusively with original Sony 1968 AVC-3260 B&W video cameras.[11]
Bujalski married Karen Olsson in 2009. They have two children.[12]
Bujalski also has worked as a writer on several studio projects, including the live-action remake of Disney's Lady and the Tramp.[13]
Style and content
Bujalski's rough-edged, realistic films are often compared to the works of directors John Cassavetes, Maurice Pialat and Mike Leigh. All seven of his feature films were photographed by Austrian cinematographer Matthias Grunsky, with whom he has maintained a collaborative partnership since Funny Ha Ha (2002).[14] The first three are shot on hand-held 16mm, have a sometimes decidedly "lo-fi" feel (reinforced by Funny Ha Ha's distorted mono sound), and are often classified as "Mumblecore". The actors 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. Funny Ha Ha featured a cast and crew of Harvard alumni.
Though his films often appear improvised, they are, for the most part, scripted; the dialogue is often noted for its drawn-out, awkward nature, and characters frequently evade key topics. Many of the films seem to start and end in medias res, giving the films a "slice of life" feeling that suggests a larger narrative or world that the audience is looking in on.
The characters in Bujalski's films are mostly middle-class. The desire for stability is a recurring theme, and many characters rush headlong into attempts at a more controlled existence; one of the main characters in Funny Ha Ha elopes with his ex-girlfriend.
Bujalski and Grunsky's ongoing collaboration is characterized by technical experimentation. For Computer Chess (2013), they shot on black-and-white video tube cameras from the 1970s, earning Grunsky an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Cinematography.[15] For There There (2022), filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, they worked entirely remotely using iPhones, with the director and cinematographer never physically present on set and actors never meeting their scene partners in person.[16]
Filmography
As director, writer, and editor
| Year | Film | Type | Credited as | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Editor | |||
| 2002 | Funny Ha Ha | Feature film | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2005 | Mutual Appreciation | Feature film | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2007 | Peoples House | Short film | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2009 | Beeswax | Feature film | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2013 | Computer Chess | Feature film | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 2015 | Results | Feature film | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2018 | Support the Girls | Feature film | Yes | Yes | No |
| 2019 | Lady and the Tramp | Feature film | No | Yes | No |
| 2022 | There There | Feature film | Yes | Yes | Yes |
As actor
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Funny Ha Ha | Mitchell |
| 2005 | Mutual Appreciation | Lawrence |
| 2007 | Hannah Takes the Stairs | Paul |
| 2008 | Cubby Knowles | DJ Whoops |
| 2008 | Goliath | Terry |
| 2008 | RSO (Registered Sex Offender) | Reggie |
| 2009 | Sorry, Thanks | Mason |
Awards
- Alfred Sloan Feature Film Prize, 2013 – Sundance Film Festival
- Best Director, 2005 – Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival
- Best Screenplay, 2005 – Newport International Film Festival
- Someone to Watch Award, 2004 – IFP