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In
keeping with the tradition of recognizing
and supporting promising young filmmakers,
the National Board of Review is proud
to count students from various New York
film schools among their membership.
Not only do these students and young graduates
keep the NBR current with today's cutting
edge filmmaking, but they truly enhance
the group's film-going experience by generating
opinions of a different perspective within
the membership of educators, film historians,
and industry insiders.
Travis
Klose graduated from film school in 1999
after spending two years at Occidental
College in Los Angeles and then transferring
to NYU to continue exploring his career
on the east coast. Classically trained
on the euphonium horn, Klose originally
intended for a career in music when he
was taking an Aesthetics of Cinema course
and was inspired to change directions.
"It was the first time I looked at film
as editing, shots, and composition, instead
of just a 'movie,'" he recalls.
"It sort of devirginized the film watching
experience for me. I had looked behind
the Green Door." Around the same time,
Pulp Fiction was released and
Klose found an inspiring visionary in
the eccentric Quentin Tarantino. "Pulp
Fiction was definitely the first
film I really reacted to viscerally.
It broke away my ideas of what a film
could or couldn't do and made me focus
on the intention of the director," Klose
remembers.
Like
Tarantino, Klose has a strong affinity
for the Japanese culture. "I've always
enjoyed Japanese animation, which somehow
inspires me both visually and narratively.
I've been watching it ever since I was
five." So it was not surprising
when Klose found himself looking to the
Japanese for the topic of his first feature
film. Chronicling the life and work of
Nobuyoshi Araki, Klose's Arakimentari
delves inside the career of one of
the most controversial and celebrated
Japanese artists of his time. Klose first
saw Araki's work five years ago in the
book Tokyo Lucky Hole, a thick
black and white collection of Araki's
nude photography. "The book really
captured his world and it was such a visual
topic, that I thought it would make a
great documentary," he recalls. When one
of Klose's friends at Troopers Films,
Regis Trigano, expressed interest in documentaries,
they decided to take a chance and approach
Araki about the possibility of being followed
by an American film crew. The famed photographer
was surprisingly quick to agree and Klose
and his three-person crew were on their
way to Japan not long after.
The
process and experience in Japan was "heaven"
for Klose and a very organic and exciting
journey of observation. "I was trying
to focus on Araki, the artist, and make
you understand him and feel like you were
spending time with him, much like the
experience my crew and I had when we showed
up at his studios. I had done research
about his life, but I wanted to understand
his process, who he is, how he approaches
his art, and through that, understand
something more about art for myself."
It
would be fair to say that Klose has succeeded
thus far. Arakimentari
premiered to an enthusiastic audience
and critical response at the Slamdance
Film Festival in January. "No one in the
audience reacted so much to the nudity
or the subject of Araki's photos," Klose
observed. "They just reacted to him as
a person." Scott Weinberg of efilmcritic.com
summed it up in his review by saying that
"Klose captures the artist's immense personality
and energy while simultaneously revealing
the most intimate and fragile aspects
of his character."
As
a member of the National Board for almost
four years, Klose is grateful for the
unique opportunity that came his way when
he was a student. "One of the incredible
things about being part of the NBR is
getting to actually meet and hear from
masters of cinema like Steven Spielberg
and David Lynch at screening Q&As.
It really demystifies the 'Hollywood'
process for a young director." One memorable
discussion for Klose was with Baz Luhrmann
after the screening of Moulin Rouge
. "I asked him how he approached
working with visual effects and he started
with an explanation going back to the
Lumiere Brothers and the history of film,"
Klose recalls. "After 20 minutes,
my question had been answered about four
different ways, it was just incredible
listening to him" But it isn't just the
guests of the NBR that Klose finds inspiring.
It is often the members themselves that
have an impact on this young director's
ongoing education. "The NBR has really
opened my eyes to my certifiable ignorance
of the full history of film. So
I welcome the chiding what do you
mean you've never seen that?"
he chuckles, "and I start taking notes!"
ALL-TIME
TOP FIVE FILMS
1.
"Fallen Angels" dir. Wong
Kar Wei
2.
"Lost Highway" dir.
David Lynch
3.
"Kuro Tokage" dir.
Kinji Fukusaku
4.
"Hana-bi" dir. Takeshi
Kitano
5.
Anything by Hideaki Anno
ADVANCE
PRAISE FOR ARAKIMENTARI:
"Filmmaker
Travis Klose does his best to showcase
Araki in the best light possible and he
succeeds. Araki is a major talent
and a truly unique character to be reckoned
with."
--Eric Campos, Film Threat
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