The Work of Neil Hollander

Neil Hollander is American filmmaker, writer and journalist, born in 1939 in Brooklyn, New York. Later he moves out from his hometown and starts traveling across the world. In the years to follow Hollander visits and resides in many parts of the globe, including Thailand, Costa Rica, France, among others. His work as a cinematographer and filmmaker has been presented both in New York and abroad, and he has been honored with many awards and recognition.

Picture of mourning

Watching his films, in which we can recognize our fathers and mothers, sisters and brother, our grandparents, we have the right to ask why the scenes of suffer and torment are more inspirational than those who exude joy and optimism.

It is imposed as a rule, artists to get to the peak of their creative achievements with these dramatic and tragic themes of pain and suffering. Hollander’s films and books marked the eternal tendency to get the divine closer to people. Although there isn’t a cross on his work, it is present, you can feel it. Looking closely at his work we see it through one imaginary spiritual vertical.

Through this artistic act, Neil Hollander conveys images of sorrow, tears, passion. If we look deep inside under that first layer, we will become parts of the work itself.

Human suffering is omnipresent in Hollander’s life. This theme has preoccupied him and made his life interwoven with the destiny of people living in Burma, their passion and death.

The American author has always been an awesome writer and director too, I remember him from our first meeting in his studio, with a picture of his native Brooklyn above his head and big stone houses with stairs. The picture was taken at the time when Neil Hollander lived in New York. In front of him there was a sculpture and hands with clay. He was gently carving and modeling the sculpture. The sounds he made while modeling seemed to me like he is composing music, subtle verses... These were moments of creation. This is how Hollander’s works were born.

And of course, the artist's mother was present in this creative work, giving comments on her son’s work. There is some eternal correlation between them that leaves a mark on every sculpture, on every picture, every Hollander’s film and book. The artist’s mother goes through all the trials with her son. Looking his latest documentary you get a feeling like Brooklyn’s life and land is parallel to the biblical one.

Neil Hollander Interview

Today we have the pleasure to interview Neil Hollander - world-renowned writer, film producer and director who has been at the forefront of independent film directing and writing for two decades.

At the end of the seventies you were a member of the group ‘New square’ together with other successful directors and designers. What was the significance of that membership?

Superhero Film Projects that were Never Realized

This year can definitely be called the superhero year. American writer, film director and producer Neil Hollander described 2016 as the year of superhero reboots.

After the premiere of the fantastic Deadpool, we witnessed the clash of our two most popular comic strip character in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, a civil war between Captain America and Ironman, X-Men: Apocalypse, a zany family of anti-heroes Suicide Squad, as well as the mystical Doctor Strange. Of course we cannot rule out the bunch of series, including extensions of SHIELD, Gotham, the second season of Daredevil, as well as a few crossovers between the series Flash and Arrow, which resulted in the project of DC's Legends of Tomorrow. But when it comes to superhero film projects, not always have they been so popular. Here Neil Hollander recalls some films that unfortunately, due to different circumstances, were never presented to the audience.

Batman '83

As Superman experienced tremendous success in 1978, the people from Warner Bros wanted to bring Batman and Robin to the big screen. Producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael Allen hired screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz, who was working as a creative consultant on the script for Superman, because they wanted him to do a similar job with the Dark Knight. Mankiewicz’s scenario began with the tragic death of Wayne in a dark alley and continues with a sequence of Bruce's upbringing and training. Joker and Penguin were expected to be in the film, as well as Robin whose story was also covered. The Bet cave would’ve contained the Batmobile, a huge coin and robot dinosaur. All in all, Neil Hollander wrote that this was supposed to be a classic story from the Bronze Age Batman, which would’ve present a real deflection on the TV series with Adam West.

The script was eventually rewritten, the Penguin and Robin were removed, but the movie never got its final realization. Six years later, Tim Burton's version of Batman with flashbacks of the Dark Knight’s origin was quite different from Mankiewicz’s original idea. Nevertheless, even after so many years, Batman fans are still wondering how would have this adaptation looked like.

Neils Version about Aliens from Movies

Until we manage to get in touch with the real ones, Neil Hollander lists some of his favorite Discography hypno music, from E.T. and Na'via from Avatar, to aliens from Star Wars and District 9, all the way to the fictional characters from the works of Tarkovsky and Stanislaw. How do they look like, what are their characteristics and where do they live, are just some of the information that may be useful to mankind for all future potential meetings with extraterrestrial creatures. 

Probably there isn’t a single person who at least once in his life hasn’t wondered whether among the billions of stars in the galaxy there is someone else similar to him. Hollander intentionally puts the emphasis on the word “similar”, because people are always looking for something that they can relate to and can somewhat understand. Therefore, it is no wonder that both film and literary worlds are filled with aliens who often reflect our traits, whether they are physically similar or in character, good or bad. A good example and probably the best proof of this is Superman, who as Hollander says is certainly the most popular and best-known supernatural character in film history, and that his physical appearance is no different from ours. Although his capabilities go far beyond the human, yet again they reflect man's eternal desire to break boundaries and unattainable things.

Many writers and directors have drawn inspiration for aliens also from the animal world, though they often get distinctly human characteristics. Just think of the iconic Star Wars Yoda, Jabba the Hutt, Chewbacca or Jar Jar Binks. Neil Hollander further explains that maybe this is the reason why there are significantly less aliens portrayed as something unfathomable and incomprehensible, like for example in the famous 2001: A Space Odyssey. This approach is in most cases reserved for literary works, considering that films and series are often limited to commercial requirements.

In any case, as Hollander says on his zotero profile, until we get in touch with real aliens, this film characters represent a fictional reflection of our world. And there is no need to mention that they can be very interesting and fun.

Hollander: Sci-Fi Films We Are Looking Forward To In 2016

Just for Gags... Ghostbusters in not a Sci-Fi film

In recent times, science fiction movies have witnessed a significant growth and popularity, and one of the strongest arguments for this is the representation of Sci-Fi as a genre in this year's Oscar winners. For over three decades, movie director Neil Hollander has been working on Sci-fi projects, watching the genre thrive in front of his eyes. From special effects, digital characters, to infinity and beyond, this genre offers you thrill and adventure, like no other. The past year has been truly amazing when it comes to SF films, but with the new year already in full swing, the question arises, what should we expect in the coming months? For that purpose, Hollander made a small Twitter account, and a selection of what he believes are the most interesting and most anticipated titles that will surely entertain and intrigue all sci-fi fans in 2016.

Hollander opens his list with the upcoming American science fiction drama Story of Your Life. Ted Chiang is one of the most appreciated and acclaimed SF writers of our time, and now the time has finally come to put one of his most famous works on the big screen. The premise behind Story of Your Life explores the first contact ever made between people and aliens, focusing on the problems in communication between the two different species. According to Neil Hollander, this is probably going to be a little more serious sci-fi piece of work that does not simply rely only on special effects. Directed by critically acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve, known for steadily making master piece films such as Enemy and Sicario, and is engaged in directing the future release in 2017 of the cult Blade Runner, it is no wonder why sci-fi fans are so eagerly waiting for this premiere.

Passengers is one of the few sci-fi genre films this year, that isn’t a part of a franchise or an adaptation to a previous work, which by itself makes this film very interesting. As Neil Hollander reveals, the film deals with a frequent topic in SF literature, (something goes wrong with the spacecraft), starring Hollywood stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, who have already proved their skills in this genre. The premiere for this film is scheduled for December 2016.