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Film Director Michel Gondry to Visit MIT April 5

Cambridge, MA...Michel Gondry, celebrated film and video director and winner of a 2005 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"), will visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through the Ida Ely Rubin Artists-in-Residence Fund. On Tuesday, April 5, at 6:30 p.m. MIT presents "Exploring the Mind of Michel Gondry," a conversation between Gondry and Professor Fredo Durand of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), in MIT Room 10-250 (enter at 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge).

The event is free and open to the public though preference will be given to MIT students. Seating is limited; no tickets or reservations are necessary. Info: (617) 253-2341.

A pioneering director, Gondry's innovative camera techniques have become one of the standards of the industry. By placing numerous cameras around a subject and combining the images, he forms a visually astonishing sweeping effect. He directed and co-wrote (with Charlie Kaufman) "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" which starred Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet and won an Oscar for "Best Original Screenplay" at this week's 2005 Academy Awards. An unconventional romance about a couple who undergoes a procedure to erase each other from their memories, "Eternal Sunshine..." was a hit with audiences and critics alike after its release in 2004.

A native of Versailles, France, Gondry was raised in a freethinking family that consisted of a number of inventors and technological innovators. Gondry's grandfather, Constant Martin, is often credited with creating one of the earliest synthesizers—the clavioline.

While in art school in Paris, Gondry formed the band Oui Oui for which he played drums. His videos for Oui Oui, which mixed animation with live action to create a series of wildly surreal worlds, piqued the interest of singer Bjork and the two collaborated on the video for her song "Human Behavior." A visually extravagant study in the quirks of humans as expressed through various species of the animal kingdom, the groundbreaking video, first aired in 1993, marked the beginning of an enduring collaboration between the two artists.

Gondry's award-winning commercials include the Levi's ad "Drugstore" (1994), which won the Lion D'Or at Cannes and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most award-winning commercial of all time.

Professor Durand teaches in the Computer Graphics Group in CSAIL. His research interests include computational photography, real-time and realistic rendering, and pictorial style for non-photorealistic rendering. A member of the Rubin Award selection committee, Durand nominated Gondry based on student interest in Gondry's innovative music videos.

The Ida Ely Rubin Artists-in-Residence Fund was established in 1998 by MIT benefactor Margaret McDermott in honor of veteran Council for the Arts member Ida Ely Rubin to support Artists-in-Residence programs in Visual Arts.

Gondry's April 5 presentation is sponsored by MIT Department of Architecture and the Office of the Arts.

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