Hitchcock/Truffaut

(Kent Jones, US 2015, 80 min., DCP)

Rochester Premiere. In 1962, François Truffaut persuaded Alfred Hitchcock to sit with him for a week-long interview in which the great British auteur would share with his young admirer the secrets of his cinema. Based on the original recordings of this meeting—used to produce the seminal book Hitchcock/Truffaut—this film illustrates the greatest cinema lesson of all time and plunges us into the world of the creator of Psycho, The Birds, and Vertigo. Hitchcock’s singular vision is elucidated and brought vividly to life by today’s leading filmmakers: Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Arnaud Desplechin, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Wes Anderson, James Gray, Olivier Assayas, Richard Linklater, Peter Bogdanovich, and Paul Schrader.

“Since I have become a director myself, my admiration for you has in no way weakened; on the contrary, it has grown stronger and changed in nature. There are many directors with a love of cinema, but what you possess is a love of celluloid itself and it is that which I would like to talk to you about.” – François Truffaut

“Dear Mister Truffaut, your letter brought tears to my eyes, and I am very grateful to receive such a tribute from you.” – Alfred Hitchcock