Hannibal Lecter will be staring him down. The squirrels might
get a little antsy. And approximately 250 students donning the cap
and gown will watch in admiration as he walks across the stage to
receive an award he never thought he’d get.
“I was somewhat floored when I was told that they selected
me,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, who will receive the Alumni
Achievement Award from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and
Television during its 2005 graduation ceremony.
Held in Dickson Plaza on June 17, the commencement will also
honor “Silence of the Lambs” Oscar-winner Anthony
Hopkins with the prestigious UCLA Medal, the university’s
highest honor. Fay Kanin, actress, writer, producer and former
four-term president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences, will deliver the keynote address.
Though Gilmore may not garner the name recognition of Hopkins or
Kanin, his contribution to the American film industry has been
equally, if not more, significant.
A graduate of UCLA with a master’s degree in film
criticism, Gilmore is currently the director of the world-renowned
annual Sundance Film Festival, a position he has held since 1990.
As director, he is responsible for film selection and overall
programming of a trend-setting independent film market.
“We’re very much trying to walk the line between the
commercial and the artistic,” he said.
According to Gilmore, independent films lend themselves to a
broader audience because they are not commercially driven, and the
entire spectrum of independent film is only slowly being
discovered.
But Gilmore has not always been so involved in independent
cinema. In fact, he has not even always been particularly
interested in film.
“I wasn’t one of those guys who was a film fanatic
from birth,” Gilmore said. “I wasn’t a film
nerd.”
While studying history and philosophy at the University of
Pennsylvania, Gilmore developed an interest in film. After
graduating, the New York native took the first chance he had to
move to the west coast, where Bob Rosen, professor and dean of the
UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, heightened his
interest in cinema studies even further.
“I was mostly interested at that point in a lot of
international film works from all around the world,” he said.
“I didn’t start off saying I wanted to work with
independent film.”
Gilmore’s interest in world cinema has not waned over the
years. In addition to his work with Sundance ““ he’s
also a consultant for the Sundance Film Channel ““ Gilmore has
been a member of numerous celebrated film juries and committees for
organizations and festivals such as The National Endowment for the
Arts and the Berlin International Film Festival. He also teaches,
writes, and speaks about the independent film scene around the
world.
Despite Gilmore’s current devotion to the cause of
independent film, his loyalty to UCLA led him to turn down his
first offer to head Sundance, after serving as head of the UCLA
Film and Television archives programming department for seven
years.
“I thought independent film was interesting, but it
wasn’t so fascinating that I wanted to give up everything
else, so of course I turned them down,” he said.
After a little pleading, Gilmore agreed to work at both Sundance
and UCLA. And after working both jobs for about seven years, he
resigned to his current position as a visiting assistant professor
for UCLA’s prestigious producer’s program.
“I enjoy teaching; it’s a result of being pedantic.
I enjoy being around students,” said Gilmore.
“I’ve been part of UCLA now for about 27 years and
teaching maintains my attachment (to the school).”
The Alumni Award recognizes not only Gilmore’s
contributions in the independent and foreign film industries, but
also his long-lasting relationship with the university.
“(Receiving the award) made me think about how often we
don’t remember the community that UCLA is,” he said.
“The breadth of that community is something that you often
don’t appreciate until you’ve left.”