Among the group of filmmakers who would help make the documentary film genre a viable place into the world of American cinema, Terry Zwigoff is a figure that has managed to do a whole lot more for the world of American cinema. Like those he had profiled in documentary as well as into his work in feature-films, Zwigoff is an oddball that champions other oddballs and misfits who don’t fit in with conventional society. While it’s been nearly a decade since his last film, Zwigoff still holds a special place for those who feel like they don’t belong as he had become this unlikely voice for the world of the outsider.
Born in Appleton, Wisconsin on May 18, 1949, Terry Zwigoff was the son of Jewish dairy farmers where he lived in the small town before moving to Chicago at the age of five. There, Zwigoff fell in love with American roots music as he would learn about much of music and immerse himself in the world of roots music and art. In the early 1970s, Zwigoff went to San Francisco where he met the famed underground artist Robert Crumb as the two became friends where Zwigoff would also play in Crumb’s string band R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders which he is still part of playing cello, saw, mandolin, and Stroh violin. Through his time with Crumb while working through many jobs to support himself, Zwigoff also learned about the medium of film as well as the growing world of documentary films.
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© thevoid99 2016
Of his films I've only seen Bad Santa and Art School Confidential. The man definitely needs to make more movies.
ReplyDeleteI wish he would make another film right now but the industry is often tough on filmmakers who can't provide the hits. He was attached to direct Juno but he said no as I don't think he was the right man for the job. Plus, he's more into oddballs that don't fit in with the world which is probably why it's hard for him to get films made.
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