On the first take, it may seem as if artists’ rights and film preservation have little, if anything, in common. But in the eyes of filmmakers, as well as film scholars such as Robert Rosen, the Dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA, the two are almost one and the same. Dean Rosen talked to the Daily Bruin’s Kate Stanhope about being named the 2008 recipient of the Directors Guild of America’s John Huston award, an award specifically given every year to an individual who has contributed to artists’ rights.
Daily Bruin: How does it feel to receive this award and also be the first academic to do so?
Robert Rosen: I’m usually a little cynical about the awards. Very often awards are self-congratulatory, but these Directors Guild of America awards are very substantive and this Huston award I’ve always had a huge respect for. I think I’ve met all of the people who’ve won the Huston award: Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise. These are all people I respect and this (award) is tied to artist rights.
DB: Why are artists’ rights especially so significant to you?
RR: One of the long-standing interests of the Directors Guild was protecting the integrity of the creative work done by its members. This focus on artists’ rights really reflect the guild. What was quite wonderful, from my point of view here, was the mixing of artists’ rights and film preservation.
When the Artists Rights Foundation and the Film Foundation came together in the Directors Guild in 2002, some people said, “˜What do they have to do with each other?’ (The answer is) everything. The right any creative person has is that their work survive for people to watch, to comment on and that it survive the way it was intended, not colorized, transformed, just in its original integrity. Filmmakers have a problem where their work becomes subject to transformation over time. Editing, colorizing, changing politics and what have you, which is why artists’ rights and preservation are linked together. It seems to me to be a significant statement on the part of the Directors Guild. I’ve gotten awards in the areas of preservation but what makes me particularly proud now is to get an award for preservation as an expression of human rights.
DB: How does it feel to also be the first academic to ever receive the Huston award?
RR: First of all, I’m very honored to be in that company. I think it’s a reflection of the vision of the Guild and its membership. They know that today’s students are tomorrow’s award-winning and creative filmmakers just by looking at our graduates.
DB: Is there anyone in particular you credit or thank for this award?
RR: My feeling is that I’ve been involved with the Film Foundation since its inception and I’ve been involved with preservation since the mid-1970s, and a lot has changed in those years. The Film Foundation, for example, has raised and distributed $17 million to (film) archives across the country. So clearly, one person I’d want to thank is Martin Scorsese, who helped organize the foundation and whose commitment was not for a moment but for a lifetime.
Major directors who are part of the guild have put their reputations on the line on behalf of fundraising for preservation. They are willing to speak and pick up the checks, like Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Robert Altman and younger directors like Alexander Payne, one of my graduates.
The directors on the board of the Film Foundation are people for whom the films of the past are alive in their creativity of the present. (Older films) remain alive and relevant.
For example, nobody knows more about older films and film history than Scorsese and Spielberg. Clint Eastwood will talk about the debt he owes to (director) Kurosawa. George Lucas will talk about the debt he owes to the serials created during the 1930s. Steven Spielberg talks about how the film “The Night of the Hunter” that UCLA recently restored was the single greatest influence on the making of “E.T.” These directors have dedicated a lot of time to raising funds and awareness for preservation.