艾倫．柏林納（1956-）是美國最重要的獨立電影工作者之一，在全球獲獎無數；他從1970 年代後期開始創作短片與裝置藝術，後期則有多部紀錄長片。在他的工作室中，有大量早期撿拾而來的廢棄膠卷，他將這些素材一一整理歸類，成為作品的靈感來源。在題材上，他總從自己身邊和日常生活出發，探討家庭親情、父子關係、失眠、回憶、自我認同等議題，而其作品特點在於總以大量的檔案影像和聲音素材進行拼貼與隱喻，並強調「剪接」所造成的蒙太奇效果，充滿詩意、趣味與想像力。對他而言，說故事的方法，有時也和故事本身一樣迷人。《紐約時報》曾盛讚他的作品：「有力量、引人入勝、反映人生的酸甜苦辣，具備創意的電影技巧和令人驚艷的故事結構，並展現了藝術的力量如何改變人生。」
Director in Focus: Alan BERLINER
Alan BERLINER (1956 - ) is one of the most important American independent filmmakers who won numerous awards around the world. He started making short films and installation art in the late 1970s, and finished a number of feature-length documentaries in later years. In his studio stores a huge amount of discarded film footage he collected in the early years, BERLINER sorts it into different categories and turns it into the inspiration for his work.
In terms of the subject matters in his films, they mostly come from BERLINER himself and his daily life. The issues raised in his works include family, relationship between father and son, insomnia, memory and self-recognition. He uses a large quantity of recorded images and sound and transforms them into collages and metaphors on the screen. The emphasis on editing creates a montage full of poetic images, fun and imagination. For BERLINER, the way a story is unfolded could be as enchanting as the story itself.
The New York Times has described BERLINER's work as "powerful, compelling and bittersweet... full of juicy conflict and contradiction, innovative in their cinematic technique, unpredictable in their structures... Alan BERLINER illustrates the power of fine art to transform life."
Films
