The President’s Award at this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will be presented to and personally received by screenwriter, director and producer Charlie Kaufman, who won an Oscar for his script for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Charlie Kaufman is considered one of today’s most interesting original filmmakers. After spending several years working on television series, Kaufman stunned audiences with his original screenplay for Being John Malkovich (1999), the directorial debut of Spike Jonze. The screenplay earned Kaufman nominations for an Oscar and a Golden Globe, plus a BAFTA Award.
He later wrote Human Nature (2001), which was directed by another talented director, Michel Gondry. This was followed by the screenplay to George Clooney’s directorial debut Confession of a Dangerous Mind (2002). Also that year, he teamed up with Spike Jonze again for Adaptation. The film, a partially autobiographical look at a screenwriter suffering from writer’s block, earned Kaufman another Oscar and Golden Globe nomination, as well as another BAFTA Award.
His subsequent film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), directed by Michel Gondry, was met by a tidal wave of enthusiasm. The screenplay, which like his first film explores the subject of controlling people’s thoughts, won an Oscar and a BAFTA Award.
In 2008, Charlie Kaufman had his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York, for which he wrote the screenplay as well. The latest addition to his highly diverse and original filmography is Oscar nominated Anomalisa (2015), which will be screened in his honour at this year’s KVIFF.
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