Cosponsored by the Berkeley Film Foundation
Producing beautifully crafted, ambitious films became a reality in the early seventies for Saul Zaentz, though he named his efforts Fantasy Films. Earlier successes in the music industry, principally with Creedence Clearwater Revival, gave Zaentz the resources to move into moving pictures. His first outing, Milos Forman's award-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), loudly announced that a formidable force had entered independent film production. From that auspicious start, Fantasy had a string of prestigious offerings: some, like Amadeus (1984) and The English Patient (1996), swept the Oscars; others, like The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) and At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991), garnered great critical respect. But more than simply building a film company, Zaentz nurtured a local film community. Situated in Berkeley, Fantasy Studios offered workspace to dozens of indie mediamakers. For decades, the studio, now the Zaentz Media Center, has been a nexus for the art of filmmaking.
Five years ago, the Saul Zaentz Company made a generous donation to BAM/PFA of 35mm prints of all his productions. We unfurl three of his best films over the next few weeks, a small tribute to a fantasy come true.