Scarface screenwriter and Natural Born Killers director Oliver Stone is set to be honored at the 10th Anniversary edition of the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival.
Taking place form August 21-25, 2024, Stone will receive an honor for “Impact, Imagination and Excellence”. As part of the celebration the festival will screen and discuss three of his films: Platoon, Wall Street and a third still to be announced. He will also participate in the festival’s Afternoon Conversation on Saturday, August 24 at the Middlebury Inn with MNFF artistic director Jay Craven.
Stone’s films are known for analyzing history and politics. His movie Salvador covered U.S. involvement in Central America; Wall Street considered corruption and insider trading; JFK took another looks at America’s “crime of the century;” Snowden did a deep dive on Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing on U.S. government mass surveillance, and Platoon looked at Vietnam in a new light based on Stone’s own combat experience.
Made in 1986 starring Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Johnny Depp, and Forest Whitaker, Platoon will screen on Thursday, August 22 at Wilson Hall on the Middlebury College campus. Platoon won best picture and scored Stone the award for best director at the 1987 Oscars. In 2019, the movie was chosen by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
Also Read: When Scarface Was In Trouble: Oliver Stone Looks Back in An Exclusive Excerpt From Chasing the Light
More About Middlebury Honoree Oliver Stone
Stone began his career as a screenwriter for movies like Scarface and Midnight Express, the latter of which also won him the 1979 Oscar for best adapted screenplay. He’s also produced many films including Milos Forman’s The People vs Larry Flynt, Barbet Schroeder’s Reversal of Fortune and Wayne Wang’s The Joy Luck Club. His documentaries include Lula, about the Brazilian president Lula da Silva, and Nuclear Now, which makes a researched case for more involvement with nuclear power to address climate change.
The director and writer was born in New York City and went to both Yale University and New York University. His teachers included fellow director and NYU alumnus Martin Scorcese. For his Vietnam combat service, Stone was also awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart for his service in Vietnam.
Stone’s other films include Savages (2012), South of the Border (2009), W. (2008), and World Trade Center (2006).
The festival is dedicated to showcases the work of primarily first and second time filmmakers. The annual event takes place in Middlebury, Vermont in late August. The festival seeks out memorable stories about underrepresented communities, encouraging risk-taking and boundary-pushing in its selections. The festival also seeks to promote innovation and give filmmakers new opportunities through partnerships with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and the Bali International Film Festival,
The 10th annual festival will be showing over 110 films on six different screens at locations including Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater, and the Marquis Theatre. On the Middlebury College campus, venues include Wilson Hall, Dana Auditorium, and Twilight Hall.
Last year’s Middlebury honorees and special guests included Sideways and The Holdovers director Alexander Paynel; Mad Men actor John Slattery; documentary filmmaker Beth Levinson; casting director Risa Bramon Garcia; filmmaker Su Friedrich, and documentary filmmaker Yoni Brook.
The festival’s juried awards include the VTeddy Award in the following categories: best narrative feature, best narrative short, best documentary feature, best documentary short, audience award — feature and audience award — short.
Passes for the 10th annual Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival are now on sale.
Main Image: Oliver Stone, courtesy of Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival.