Susan Seidelman began her filmmaking career in 1982 with the independently financed Smithereens, which was made on a tiny budget of $60,000. The film became the first American Independent film ever accepted into the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival. Seidelman’s first studio movie, Desperately Seeking Susan, (starring Madonna and Rosanna Arquette) was a surprise success both critically and at the box office and helped to launch the screen careers of many up and coming actors of that time: Aidan Quinn, John Turturro, and Laurie Metcalf. It was also nominated for a Cesar in 1986 for Best Foreign Film. Susan went on to direct several other movies including Making Mr. Right (John Malkovich), Cookie (Peter Falk, Jerry Lewis and Emily Lloyd), She Devil (Meryl Streep, in her first comedic screen performance), and Gaudi Afternoon (starring Judy Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Juliette Lewis, and María Barranco).
Susan directed Boynton Beach Club (Dyan Cannon, Brenda Vaccaro, Sally Kellerman), a romantic comedy set in a retirement community about “seniors” who suddenly find themselves back in the dating game. Susan has also directed TV for HBO and Showtime. Among the highlights of her TV career was directing the “pilot” and early episodes of the hit series Sex and the City. Seidelman has won numerous awards for her work. She was nominated for an “Oscar” in 1994 for the short film The Dutch Master, (part of Regina’s Zeigler’s Erotic Tales series, starring Mira Sorvino). She directed A Cooler Climate in 1999 (starring Sally Field and Judy Davis), which received two EMMY nominations. She has also received a Cristal Apple Award for her contributions to filmmaking in NYC and a MUSE award from New York Women In Film for being one of a handful of female directors who have sustained a long term career in TV and film.
Festival Internacional de Cine de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
