Playing Among the Stars: Conversations with Damien Chazelle - Damien Chazelle

Expertly steered by Nathan Réra, these conversations showcase Chazelle's deep and wide-ranging knowledge of cinema history and his mastery of film-making technique. They guide the reader from Chazelle's little-seen debut, the student feature film Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (featuring music by his Harvard roommate-turned regular composer, Justin Hurwitz), through his triple-Oscar-winning breakthrough, Whiplash , and on to his acclaimed partnership with Ryan Gosling on La La Land - which made Chazelle the youngest ever recipient of the Oscar for Best Director - and the Neil Armstrong biopic First Man . Réra also discusses Chazelle's screenplays for other directors, including 10 Cloverfield Lane , and Grand Piano , and brings his filmography up to date with chapters on his Netflix series The Eddy and his extravagantly epic dramatization of the early days of Hollywood, Babylon . Less a question-and-answer session between interviewer and interviewee, more a genuine dialogue between two articulate and devoted cinema enthusiasts, Playing Among the Stars is a must-read for admirers of one of the 21st-century's most important American film-makers, and all students of contemporary cinema.