Gus Van Sant

Gus Van Sant

Birth : 1952-07-24, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

History

Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Achievement in Directing for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, and won the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for his film Elephant. He lives in Portland, Oregon. His early career was devoted to directing television commercials in the Pacific Northwest. In his films, he has dealt with themes concerning homosexuality and other marginalized subcultures. His filmography as writer and director includes an adaptation of Tom Robbins' novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which features a diverse cast (Keanu Reeves, Roseanne Barr, Uma Thurman, and k.d. lang, with cameos by William S. Burroughs and Heather Graham, among others); and My Own Private Idaho, also starring Reeves as well as River Phoenix. He wrote the screenplays for most of his early movies, and wrote one novel, Pink. A book of his photography has also been published, called 108 Portraits.

Profile

Gus Van Sant

Movies

The Trainer
It unfolds over eight days of sleep-deprived chaos and follows Jack, a down-on-his-luck fitness expert living with his mother in Los Angeles, who takes a maniacal swing at fame and fortune, trying to realize his version of the American dream.
Joe Gives Up and Moves to Montana
Producer
LA can be a hard place to live, and Joe is about to give up and move back to Montana, the place he escaped from years before. But when he returns, will it be the same place with the same people, and will that be any better?
At the Video Store
Self
Equal parts personal essay, intense rumination, and playful satire, this movie laments the death of the American Video Store while it searches for the missing human element in today's digital landscape.
Zeroville
Film Archive Curator
A young actor arrives in Hollywood in 1969 during a transitional time in the Industry.
Illegal Civilization 3
Himself
Features Kevin White, Aramis Hudson, Zach Saraceno, Nico Hiraga, and Olan Prenatt skating, having fun, and getting into all of the hijinks that we’ve come to expect from the Civ.
Age Out
Executive Producer
Fresh out of foster care at age 18, a young drifter turns to petty crime to survive, and discovers an impossible love in an unlikely friend.
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
Story
On the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
Willamette Week Editor
On the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
Screenplay
On the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
Editor
On the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.
Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
Director
On the rocky path to sobriety after a life-changing accident, John Callahan discovers the healing power of art, willing his injured hands into drawing hilarious, often controversial cartoons, which bring him a new lease on life.
Xavier Dolan: Bound to Impossible
Self
Actors Anne Dorval, Suzanne Clément, Monia Chokri, Gaspard Ulliel, Vincent Cassel, Niels Schneider and Melvil Poupaud discuss working with the young Canadian director Xavier Dolan, who has conquered the hearts of both cinema lovers and prestigious festival juries with his films. To French actress Nathalie Baye, he seems very experienced despite his young age, while Cannes Director Thierry Frémaux says he may be insolent, but everyone agrees he is passionate, creative, a perfectionist and... in a hurry.
I Don't Belong Anywhere: The Cinema of Chantal Akerman
I Don’t Belong Anywhere - Le Cinéma de Chantal Akerman, explores some of the Belgian filmmaker’s 40 plus films. From Brussels to Tel-Aviv, from Paris to New-York, this documentary charts the sites of her peregrinations. An experimental filmmaker, a nomad, Chantal Akerman shares her cinematic trajectory, one that has never ceased to interrogate the the meaning of her existence. Thanks in great part to the interventions of her editor, Claire Atherton, she delineates the origins of her film language and her aesthetic stance.
The Sea of Trees
Director
In Japan's Aokigahara Forest, a troubled teacher meets a mysterious lost stranger who takes him on a life-changing journey of love and redemption.
About Cinema
An abandoned tumbledown theater in the outback of Paraíba state is the initial setting of a film about cinema, which explores the testimonials of the novelist and playwright Ariano Suassuna and other filmmakers such as Ruy Guerra, Julio Bressane, Ken Loach, Andrzej Wajda, Karim Ainouz, José Padilha, Hector Babenco, Vilmos Zsigmond, Béla Tarr, Gus Van Sant and Jia Zhangke. They all respond to two basic questions: why do they make movies and why do they serve the seventh art. The filmmakers share their thoughts about time, narrative, rhythm, light, movement, the meaning of tragedy, the audience‘s desires and the boundaries with other forms of art.
The Canyons
Dr. Campbell
The discovery of an illicit love affair leads two young Angelenos on a violent, sexually charged tour through the dark side of human nature.
Promised Land
Executive Producer
A salesman for a natural gas company experiences life-changing events after arriving in a small town, where his corporation wants to tap into the available resources.
Promised Land
Director
A salesman for a natural gas company experiences life-changing events after arriving in a small town, where his corporation wants to tap into the available resources.
Laurence Anyways
Executive Producer
The story of an impossible love between a woman named Fred and a transgender woman named Laurence who reveals her inner desire to become her true self.
Une Journée particulière
Self
At the 60th anniversary of Cannes Film Festival, 34 famous directors are followed by camera.
The Advocate for Fagdom
Himself
The Advocate for Fagdom unites the puzzle pieces one by one. Testimonies are combined with rare archive images. Art galeries present movie extracts that are succeeded by images shot on location. And the other way round. Writers, film makers, art galeries owners, actors and actresses, photographers, producers, friends and loved ones all join in a game of interpretation, analysis or simple anecdotes. John Waters, Bruce Benderson, Harmony Korine, Gus Van Sant, Richard Kern, Rick Castro and others deliver their impressions, theories and confessions. Everything blends into the fascinating portrait of a singular person blessed with singular talents. A complex personality at war not with a system but all systems. The portrait of a man constantly moving between his punk attitude and extreme sensibility.
My Own Private River
Director
Unused footage from Gus Van Sant's 1991 film My Own Private Idaho is re-contextualized in James Franco's tribute to River Phoenix.
Restless
Producer
Two outsiders, both shaped by the circumstances that have brought them together, forge a deep and lasting love.
Restless
Director
Two outsiders, both shaped by the circumstances that have brought them together, forge a deep and lasting love.
William S. Burroughs: A Man Within
Self
A riveting and emotional journey into the world of writer William S. Burroughs, a man considered as cold as an iceberg on a winter night.
I'm Still Here
Thanks
I'm Still Here is a portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, the film follows the Oscar-nominee as he announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip-hop musician. The film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads and explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.
Howl
Executive Producer
It's San Francisco in 1957, and an American masterpiece is put on trial. Howl, the film, recounts this dark moment using three interwoven threads: the tumultuous life events that led a young Allen Ginsberg to find his true voice as an artist, society's reaction (the obscenity trial), and mind-expanding animation that echoes the startling originality of the poem itself. All three coalesce in a genre-bending hybrid that brilliantly captures a pivotal moment-the birth of a counterculture.
Virginia
Executive Producer
A sheriff sees his state senate bid slide out onto the ice when his daughter begins to date the son of a charming but psychologically disturbed woman with whom the sheriff has engaged in a two-decade-long affair.
Accidents Happen
Thanks
There are dysfunctional families... and then there are the Conways. After a family tragedy, 15-year-old Billy Conway has become the de facto glue between his bitter mom, distant brother, and stoic dad. But when Billy starts to act out, everything changes for him and his family
Milk
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.
Milk
Director
The true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man ever elected to public office. In San Francisco in the late 1970s, Harvey Milk becomes an activist for gay rights and inspires others to join him in his fight for equal rights that should be available to all Americans.
8
Director
8 shorts centered around 8 themes directed by 8 famous film directors involved and sharing their opinion on progress, on the set-backs and the challenges our planet faces today.
Making Paranoid Park
Behind the scenes documentary of Gus Van Sant's "Paranoid Park." Felix Andrew: director, cinematographer, editor. Dane La Chiusa: titles and original drawings. Joel Shelton, composer. Additional music: "Songs" by Ethan Rose, "Sangue de Bairro" by Chico Science e Nacao Zumbi. Made in 2006. Length: 27 minutes
Crítico
Self
Seventy critics and filmmakers discuss cinema around the conflict between the artist and the observer, the creator and the critic. Between 1998 and 2007, Kléber Mendonça Filho recorded testimonies about this relationship in Brazil, the United States and Europe, based on his experience as a critic.
To Each His Own Cinema
Director
A collective film of 33 shorts directed by different directors about their feeling about cinema.
In the Mood for Doyle
Self
Christopher Doyle is one of the best known and most acclaimed directors of photography in world cinema. Born in Australia, he sees himself as an Asian citizen rather than a Westerner. His artistic contribution to the films of Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Jimou and Fruit Chan films, among others, is indisputable. Filmed in DV and Super8, this documentary is a kind of wild and stylized road movie -- from Bangkok to Hong Kong, via New York. The camera follows this eccentric and outrageous artist as he gives us his thoughts on his past and present work. From the recent sets of Invisible Waves by Thailand's Pen ek Ratanaruang, and M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water, to the locations in Hong Kong where he shot some of his most famous pictures, such as In The Mood for Love and Dumplings, Chris Doyle talks about his cinematic fascination for Asian culture.
Paranoid Park
Guy Reading Newspaper (uncredited)
A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".
Paranoid Park
Editor
A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".
Paranoid Park
Director
A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".
Paranoid Park
Screenplay
A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".
First Kiss
Director
A young projectionist falls in love with a girl in a film.
Here’s Looking at You, Boy
Himself
Documentary on the history of gay and lesbian film.
Wild Tigers I Have Known
Executive Producer
A lyrical telling of the coming of age of a 13-year-old boy who learns to cope with his new found sexuality and his unrequited love for the cool kid in school.
Le Marais
Writer
Le Marais is a singular short film, taken from the collection of films set in Paris, used for Gus Van Sant's "Paris: Je t'aime". Two customers walk into a paint business, asking for help, one character has the compulsion to speak to another - and while language barriers restrict the growth of their relationship, the desire for one another is there.
Le Marais
Director
Le Marais is a singular short film, taken from the collection of films set in Paris, used for Gus Van Sant's "Paris: Je t'aime". Two customers walk into a paint business, asking for help, one character has the compulsion to speak to another - and while language barriers restrict the growth of their relationship, the desire for one another is there.
Paris Je T'aime
Writer
Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to chose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.
Paris Je T'aime
Director
Olivier Assayas, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven and Alfonso Cuaron are among the 20 distinguished directors who contribute to this collection of 18 stories, each exploring a different aspect of Parisian life. The colourful characters in this drama include a pair of mimes, a husband trying to chose between his wife and his lover, and a married man who turns to a prostitute for advice.
Cinema16: American Short Films
Director
CINEMA16 celebrates the short film by showcasing some of the best classic and award-winning shorts on DVD. With over three hours of films CINEMA16: AMERICAN SHORT FILMS is essential viewing for anyone with an interest in the moving image. Films include Gus Van Sant's 1982 adaptation of a William S. Burroughs short story, The Discipline Of DE, Tim Burton's early stop motion animated classic Vincent, George Lucas' USC short Freiheit, Alexander Payne's previously unreleased UCLA graduation short Carmen, Paperboys by Mike Mills, D.A. Pennebaker's Duke Ellington scored Daybreak Express, Todd Solondz's NYU short Feelings, along with Oscar Winner The Lunch Date by Adam Davidson, Stefan Nadelman's multi- award winning documentary Terminal Bar, Joe Nussbaum's cult classic George Lucas In Love and 2006 Sundance Winner The Wraith Of Cobble Hill by Adam Parrish King. Films are subtitled in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese, and include commentaries from many of the directors involved.
Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema
Self
A chronological look at films by, for, or about gays and lesbians in the United States, from 1947 to 2005, Kenneth Anger's "Fireworks" to "Brokeback Mountain". Talking heads, anchored by critic and scholar B. Ruby Rich, are interspersed with an advancing timeline and with clips from two dozen films. The narrative groups the pictures around various firsts, movements, and triumphs: experimental films, indie films, sex on screen, outlaw culture and bad guys, lesbian lovers, films about AIDS and dying, emergence of romantic comedy, transgender films, films about diversity and various cultures, documentaries and then mainstream Hollywood drama. What might come next?
Last Days
Phone Voice (voice)
The life and struggles of a notorious rock musician seeping into a pit of loneliness whose everyday life involves friends and family seeking financial aid and favors, inspired by rock music legend Kurt Cobain and his final hours.
Last Days
Editor
The life and struggles of a notorious rock musician seeping into a pit of loneliness whose everyday life involves friends and family seeking financial aid and favors, inspired by rock music legend Kurt Cobain and his final hours.
Last Days
Screenplay
The life and struggles of a notorious rock musician seeping into a pit of loneliness whose everyday life involves friends and family seeking financial aid and favors, inspired by rock music legend Kurt Cobain and his final hours.
Last Days
Director
The life and struggles of a notorious rock musician seeping into a pit of loneliness whose everyday life involves friends and family seeking financial aid and favors, inspired by rock music legend Kurt Cobain and his final hours.
The Making of My Own Private Idaho
Making-of documentary of Gus Van Sant's 'My Own Private Idaho'.
The Making of Last Days
Himself
Behind-the-scenes documentary of Gus Van Sant's "Last Days."
Saltlake Van Sant
Himself
Behind-the-scenes documentary of one morning on the set of "Gerry" directed by Gus Van Sant.
Tarnation
Executive Producer
Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette's documentary on growing up with his schizophrenic mother -- a mixture of snapshots, Super-8, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short films, and more -- culled from 19 years of his life.
Elephant
Director
Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
Elephant
Editor
Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
Elephant
Screenplay
Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
Gerry
Writer
Two friends named Gerry become lost in the desert after taking a wrong turn. Their attempts to find their way home only lead them into further trouble.
Gerry
Editor
Two friends named Gerry become lost in the desert after taking a wrong turn. Their attempts to find their way home only lead them into further trouble.
Gerry
Director
Two friends named Gerry become lost in the desert after taking a wrong turn. Their attempts to find their way home only lead them into further trouble.
David Bowie: Best of Bowie
Director
Disc 1: Oh. You Pretty Things, Queen Bitch), Five Years, Starman, John I'm Only Dancing, The Jean Genie, Space Oddity, Drive-in Saturday, Life on Mars?, Ziggy Stardust, Rebel Rebel, Young Americans, Be My Wife, "Heroes," Boys Keep Swinging, D.J., Look Back in Anger, Ashes to Ashes, Fashion, Wild Is the Wind, Let's Dance, China Girl, Modern Love, Cat People (Putting Out Fire), Blue Jean, Loving the Alien, Dancing in the Street (with Mick Jagger) Disc 2: Absolute Beginners, Underground, As the World Falls Down, Day-In Day-Out, Time Will Crawl, Never Let Me Down, Fame '90, Jump They Say, Black Tie White Noise, Miracle Goodnight, Buddha of Suburbia, The Heart's Filthy Lesson, Strangers When We Meet, Hallo Spaceboy, Little Wonder, Dead Man Walking, Seven Years in Tibet, I'm Afraid of Americans, Thursday's Child and Survive.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Gus Van Sant
When Jay and Silent Bob learn that their comic-book alter egos, Bluntman and Chronic, have been sold to Hollywood as part of a big-screen movie that leaves them out of any royalties, the pair travels to Tinseltown to sabotage the production.
Rescued from the Closet
Himself
A collection of interviews recorded for the making of the 1995 documentary "The Celluloid Closet," on the subject of LGBT representation in film history.
Finding Forrester
Library Assistant (uncredited)
Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.
Finding Forrester
Director
Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.
Easter
Director
The story of a man who believes himself to be gay after watching a gay pornographic film with his wife.
Psycho Path
Executive Producer
Documentary on the making of Gus Van Sant's "Psycho."
Psycho Path
Himself
Documentary on the making of Gus Van Sant's "Psycho."
The Making of Drugstore Cowboy
Portland, 1988. Filmmaker Gus Van Sant shoots Drugstore Cowboy, the project that will bring he and his collaborators a formidable burst of mainstream attention. Starring Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, and Heather Graham, the film follows a roving quartet of drug addicts — and, consequently, drug thieves, especially from the businesses of the title — who wash up in Portland's then-gritty Pearl District. A death among their own spooks the leader of the pack into trying to clean up, and an encounter with a sepulchral junkie priest does its part to convince him further. Or maybe we should call him a Junkie priest, portrayed as he is by a controversial cameo from writer William S. Burroughs. "I'm going back to the old days," Burroughs says of his role early in the above documentary on the making of Drugstore Cowboy. "The old days when they used to give people morphine in jail. The old days before the methadone programs."
Speedway Junky
Executive Producer
A naive drifter runs away from his army father in hopes of making it on the car racing circuit. In Las Vegas, he meets a young scam artist, who develops a crush on him. He is then introduced to a whole gang led by a young hustler. The racer-to-be then gets a lesson in the wild side, getting involved in one situation after another.
Psycho
Man Talking to Man in Cowboy Hat (uncredited)
A young female embezzler arrives at the Bates Motel, which has terrible secrets of its own. Although this version is in color, features a different cast, and is set in 1998, it is closer to a shot-for-shot remake than most remakes, Gus Van Sant often copying Hitchcock's camera movements and editing, and Joseph Stefano's script is mostly carried over. Bernard Herrmann's musical score is reused as well, though with a new arrangement by Danny Elfman and recorded in stereo.
Psycho
Producer
A young female embezzler arrives at the Bates Motel, which has terrible secrets of its own. Although this version is in color, features a different cast, and is set in 1998, it is closer to a shot-for-shot remake than most remakes, Gus Van Sant often copying Hitchcock's camera movements and editing, and Joseph Stefano's script is mostly carried over. Bernard Herrmann's musical score is reused as well, though with a new arrangement by Danny Elfman and recorded in stereo.
Psycho
Director
A young female embezzler arrives at the Bates Motel, which has terrible secrets of its own. Although this version is in color, features a different cast, and is set in 1998, it is closer to a shot-for-shot remake than most remakes, Gus Van Sant often copying Hitchcock's camera movements and editing, and Joseph Stefano's script is mostly carried over. Bernard Herrmann's musical score is reused as well, though with a new arrangement by Danny Elfman and recorded in stereo.
Strange Parallel
himself
Strange Parallel is a documentary/short film revolving around the American singer/songwriter Elliott Smith. The film features interviews with Elliott himself as well as fans, friends and other acquaintances of his (including Gus Van Sant, Larry Crane, and the members of Quasi). The film also includes snippets of Elliott Smith performing as well as footage of him recording an unreleased song, "Brand New Game". The film sometimes moves out of reality, with acted-out, metaphorical sequences that involve Elliott considering purchasing a mechanical hand (a "robot hand" ) to improve his music.
Good Will Hunting
Script Supervisor
When professors discover that an aimless janitor is also a math genius, a therapist helps the young man confront the demons that are holding him back.
Good Will Hunting
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
When professors discover that an aimless janitor is also a math genius, a therapist helps the young man confront the demons that are holding him back.
Good Will Hunting
Director
When professors discover that an aimless janitor is also a math genius, a therapist helps the young man confront the demons that are holding him back.
Ballad of the Skeletons
Writer
A close-up of Allen Ginsberg reciting his “skeletons” poem is bluescreened and dissolved against archival film and video clips, and backed by musicians to create a sort of song that becomes an American anthem.
Ballad of the Skeletons
Director
A close-up of Allen Ginsberg reciting his “skeletons” poem is bluescreened and dissolved against archival film and video clips, and backed by musicians to create a sort of song that becomes an American anthem.
Four Boys in a Volvo
Director
The short film was made from material shot for a Levi’s commercial on which Gus Van Sant was given complete freedom. Van Sant delivered the ad, and separately made his own short film; one that feels complete in and unto itself.
To Die For
Director
Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she makes up for in cold determination and diabolical wiles. As she pursues her goal with relentless focus, she is forced to destroy anything and anyone that may stand in her way, regardless of the ultimate cost or means necessary.
Kids
Executive Producer
A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking and deflowering virgins.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Executive Producer
Sissy Hankshaw is born with enormous thumbs that help her hitchhiking through the US from a young age. She becomes a model in advertising and her NY agent 'the Countess' sends her to his ranch in CA to shoot a commercial, set against the background of mating whooping cranes. There, she befriends Bonanza Jellybean, one of the cowgirls at the beauty- ranch.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Editor
Sissy Hankshaw is born with enormous thumbs that help her hitchhiking through the US from a young age. She becomes a model in advertising and her NY agent 'the Countess' sends her to his ranch in CA to shoot a commercial, set against the background of mating whooping cranes. There, she befriends Bonanza Jellybean, one of the cowgirls at the beauty- ranch.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Writer
Sissy Hankshaw is born with enormous thumbs that help her hitchhiking through the US from a young age. She becomes a model in advertising and her NY agent 'the Countess' sends her to his ranch in CA to shoot a commercial, set against the background of mating whooping cranes. There, she befriends Bonanza Jellybean, one of the cowgirls at the beauty- ranch.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
Director
Sissy Hankshaw is born with enormous thumbs that help her hitchhiking through the US from a young age. She becomes a model in advertising and her NY agent 'the Countess' sends her to his ranch in CA to shoot a commercial, set against the background of mating whooping cranes. There, she befriends Bonanza Jellybean, one of the cowgirls at the beauty- ranch.
Made in the USA
Self
A Paul Joyce documentary on the American independent film scene.
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Funky Monks
Himself
An intimate look at Los Angeles-based funk rock foursome Red Hot Chili Peppers' creative process as they join producer Rick Rubin at a Hollywood Hills mansion to record their 1991 studio album 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik', which would go on to propel the band into critical acclaim and worldwide popularity.
My Own Private Idaho
Man Behind Hotel Counter (uncredited)
In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a gay hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
My Own Private Idaho
Screenplay
In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a gay hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
My Own Private Idaho
Director
In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a gay hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
Flea Sings
Director
Thanksgiving Prayer
Producer
An indictment ballad of all the different political groups in America.
Thanksgiving Prayer
Director
An indictment ballad of all the different political groups in America.
Drugstore Cowboy
Himself (uncredited)
Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable need for drugs. But neither fun nor luck last forever.
Drugstore Cowboy
Screenplay
Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable need for drugs. But neither fun nor luck last forever.
Drugstore Cowboy
Director
Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable need for drugs. But neither fun nor luck last forever.
Ken Death Gets Out of Jail
Director
Youth tells about his jail experience.
Junior
Director
In Gus Van Sant's loving portrait of his cat, a reflected light leads the subject to explore a domestic composition in a manner that can only be described as wholly feline.
Junior
Himself
In Gus Van Sant's loving portrait of his cat, a reflected light leads the subject to explore a domestic composition in a manner that can only be described as wholly feline.
My New Friend
Director
An older man meets and becomes fascinated by a younger man in this somewhat autobiographical work.
Five Ways to Kill Yourself
Gus Van Sant, dissatisfied professionally, counts five ways to end his life.
Five Ways to Kill Yourself
Writer
Gus Van Sant, dissatisfied professionally, counts five ways to end his life.
Five Ways to Kill Yourself
Director
Gus Van Sant, dissatisfied professionally, counts five ways to end his life.
Mala Noche
Guy at Hotel (uncredited)
Mala Noche is the film debut from director Gus Van Sant. The film portrays the unanswered love of an American man toward a young Mexican man.
Mala Noche
Editor
Mala Noche is the film debut from director Gus Van Sant. The film portrays the unanswered love of an American man toward a young Mexican man.
Mala Noche
Producer
Mala Noche is the film debut from director Gus Van Sant. The film portrays the unanswered love of an American man toward a young Mexican man.
Mala Noche
Screenplay
Mala Noche is the film debut from director Gus Van Sant. The film portrays the unanswered love of an American man toward a young Mexican man.
Mala Noche
Director
Mala Noche is the film debut from director Gus Van Sant. The film portrays the unanswered love of an American man toward a young Mexican man.
Switzerland
Director
The Discipline of D.E.
Director
"The Discipline of D.E." is a short 16mm film directed by Gus Van Sant. It’s based on a story in “Exterminator!” by William Burroughs that at times reads like Buddhist noir: "DE is a way of doing. DE simply means doing whatever you do in the easiest most relaxed way you can manage which is also the quickest and most efficient way, as you will find as you advance in DE.You can start right now tidying up your flat, moving furniture or books, washing dishes, making tea, sorting papers. Don't fumble, jerk, grab an object. Drop cool possessive fingers onto it like a gentle old cop making a soft arrest.”
Property
Sound
Facing eviction, the residents of a bohemian quarter of Portland, Oregon organize to collectively purchase a block of houses, only to get a crash course in bureaucracy.
Psycho Shampoo
Director
A short parody of the iconic shower murder scene from Hitchcock's "Psycho" framed as a shampoo commercial. This short was produced for the LA-based comedy theater group Our Lady of Laughter and used as part of their show "Rabies!" in 1979.
1/2 of a Telephone Conversation
Director
Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
Little Johnny
Director
The Happy Organ
Director
Mansion on the Hill
Director
Part of the film "8", Gus Van Sant delivers a film on child health. S
The Prince of Fashion
Screenplay
A father brings his son to Paris for Men's Fashion Week.
The Prince of Fashion
Director
A father brings his son to Paris for Men's Fashion Week.
Thank You for Supporting the Arts
Directors W. Alexander Jones and Carolann Stoney turn their cameras on Liv Osthus, one of the best-known artists working in Portland’s adult entertainment industry. She also happens to be a published author, musician, breast cancer survivor, mother, and daughter of a preacher. Better known as Viva Las Vegas, Osthus grew to wide notoriety when, along with a handful of other strippers, she faced down Portland city council for greater protections for sex workers. In a city with the highest number of strip clubs per capita in the country (and probably strippers), this unique woman not only revels in the glorious grit of the profession, but also manages to raise social perceptions with her creative successes, bravery, and artistry.