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William farley

Director

My Story

I was in the M.F.A. program at California College of the Arts as a Sculpture major, and I took an elective class on the History of Cinema. At the end of the semester the professor offered us a choice, either write a paper about the films he had shown or make a film. I knew nothing about making a film, but I was innocent and ambitious and decided to give it a try. The film was accepted at a local film festival, and standing in the back of the theater watching it play, feeling the enthusiasm from the audience, swept me away. For the next half century, I made experimental films, documentaries, and feature-length narrative movies. I took on the liberties of being an artist and used film as the medium to investigate the world. I am inspired by a wide variety of subject matter - whatever captures my imagination and fuels my sense of story. I have lived a life of abandon. And I have been fortunate enough to have my films shown nationally and internationally. The list includes The Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Sundance Film Festival, New York Film Festival and many more. My work has received awards at the Mannheim International Film Festival, the Chicago Film Festival, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival among others. My films have also been broadcast on public television in the U.S. and abroad, reaching thousands of viewers. I am blessed to be able to do this work.

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