David Cronenberg Evolution

In 2011, we fell into a reverie that it would be great to see international film exhibition projects not just in Paris, London, Vienna or New York, but also in Prague – to present selected icons of world cinematography to the local public as well. We are pleased that, after the 2014 exhibition of Tim Burton, the Art Movement association can introduce Czech viewers to the significant and globally respected Canadian director, David Cronenberg. They will have the opportunity to peek inside his filmic mind via photographs, sketches, drawings, props or rare, unseen film clips, and to watch both his early and iconic films in a specially built cinema. Human developments and transformations go hand in hand with rather disturbing ideas and visions of the viewers themselves, often taking us to the world of our own wishes or fears, which we never express…

DIRECTOR DAVID CRONENBERG’S reputation as an authentic auteur has been firmly established by his uniquely personal body of work, which includes Shivers, Rabid, Fast Company, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, Crash, eXistenZ, The Dead Zone, M. Butterfly, Spider, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method and Cosmopolis. In 2014, he premiered his film Maps to the Stars, scripted by novelist Bruce Wagner and starring Julianne Moore, John Cusack and Mia Wasikowska, at Cannes, and debuted his own novel and first work of fiction, Consumed, that fall.

Frequently lauded as one of the world’s greatest and most influential directors, Cronenberg’s films have earned him critical praise and recognition internationally. In 1999, he presided over the jury at the Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Festival’s lifetime achievement award, the Carrosse d’Or, in 2006. Also that year, David worked with the Art Gallery of Ontario as a guest curator for the exhibition “Andy Warhol/Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters, 1962–1964”. David created an innovative soundtrack audio guide with additional commentary by several of Warhol’s contemporaries, including actor Dennis Hopper, film critic Amy Taubin, and artist James Rosenquist. In 2008, David brought his film The Fly to the stage for the Théâtre du Châtelet and LA Opera.

This exhibition was organized and circulated by TIFF. Curated by Piers Handling and Noah Cowan.