About

Known credits:
32
Birthday:
1956-01-01
Place of birth:
Staten Island, New York, USA
Website:
Click here

John Gianvito

Overview

John Gianvito is an independent film director based in Boston, where he also holds an Associate Professorship in the Department of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College. He has taught at numerous major universities in New England and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Robert Flaherty International Film Seminar. His extensive curatorial work also includes a five-year appointment as Film Programmer at the Harvard Film Archive. He made his debut as a director in 1978 with his short film The Direct Approach and rose to prominence with the subsequent feature The Flower of Pain (1983), a semi-autobiographical film about an adolescent relationship structured as a series of fragments, or “shards of memory” in Gianvito’s words. Commenting on the film to the Viennale, Gianvito described his attempt at “stripping away as much personal anecdotal material as possible, and concentrating on uncovering within each scene the disruptions, the unconscious and conscious mistakes.” Most recently, Gianvito has made Vapor Trail (Clark) which had its world premiere at International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2010. That same year, his documentary Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind (2007), inspired by Howard Zinn’s famous tome A People’s History of the United States, was named one of the fifty greatest documentaries of all time by Time Out New York. For his extraordinary and unique contributions to cinema, Gianvito received the French honorary title of Knight in the Order of Art and Letters in 2001.

– Wen Zhuang

Known for

Acting
2001 The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein Actor Mr. Blacksmith 59
Average
1983 The Flower of Pain Actor N/A
N/A

Directing
2023 Fugue Directing Director N/A
N/A
2023 The Grave's Sky Directing Director N/A
N/A
2020 Her Socialist Smile Directing Director 58
Average
2015 Wake (Subic) Directing Director 59
Average
2012 Far from Afghanistan Directing Director 59
Average
2011 My Heart Swims in Blood Directing Director N/A
N/A
2010 Vapor Trail (Clark) Directing Director 58
Average
2008 Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind Directing Director 59
Average
2008 Puncture Wounds (September 11) Directing Director N/A
N/A
2001 The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein Directing Director 59
Average
1990 What Nobody Saw Directing Director N/A
N/A
1986 Address Unknown Directing Director N/A
N/A
1983 The Flower of Pain Directing Director N/A
N/A

Writing
2008 Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind Writing Writer 59
Average
2008 Puncture Wounds (September 11) Writing Writer N/A
N/A
2001 The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein Writing Writer 59
Average
1983 The Flower of Pain Writing Writer N/A
N/A

Production
2008 Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind Production Producer 59
Average
2001 The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein Production Producer 59
Average
Mission Hill Production Producer N/A
N/A

Sound
2008 Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind Sound Sound 59
Average
1983 The Flower of Pain Sound Sound N/A
N/A

Camera
2008 Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind Camera Director of Photography 59
Average

Crew
2020 Her Socialist Smile Crew Cinematography 58
Average
1983 The Flower of Pain Crew Cinematography N/A
N/A

Editing
2020 Her Socialist Smile Editing Editor 58
Average
2008 Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind Editing Editor 59
Average
2001 The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein Editing Editor 59
Average
1983 The Flower of Pain Editing Editor N/A
N/A

Visual Effects
2008 Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind Visual Effects Animation 59
Average