Woodstock Film Festival

BIO:
Jonathan Demme is a NY-based filmmaker who has been writing, producing and directing films since 1971, when he got his first break with Roger Corman's New World Pictures. He went on to direct/produce two Academy award winning films: "Melvin and Howard" (1981) and "Silence of the Lambs" (1991). He has also produced and directed several feature films over the years through his production company Clinica Estetico. "Rachel Getting Married" is Demme's most recent theatrical picture.

Demme produced and directed his first performance film, "Stop Making Sense," with the Talking Heads in 1984. Since then, he has collaborated on performance features with Spalding Grey ("Swimming to Cambodia"), Robyn Hitchcock ("Storefront Hitchcock") and two with Neil Young, "Neil Young Heart of Gold" and "Neil Young Trunk Show."

Demme fell in love with documentary filmmaking in l987 while collaborating with Jo Mennel on "Haiti Dreams of Democracy," and since has to direct/produce many documentaries about inspirational figures such as the Reverend Robert Castle ("Cousin Bobby"), Jean Dominique ("The Agronomist"), Nelson Mandela ("Mandela Son of Africa"), Beah Richards ("Beah: A Black Woman Speaks"), Jimmy Carter ("Jimmy Carter Man From Plains") and Bob Marley ("Bob Marley Stay with the Rhythm").

In partnership with Daniel Wolff, Demme has been working on the "Right to Return (r2r)" Project in New Orleans since 2005, following the efforts of several families who have braved the challenge of reclaiming and rebuilding their lives in the neighborhoods that were hit hardest by Katrina and Rita. Demme hopes to create an extended cable "reality series" out of the many hundreds of hours of footage gained from these ongoing visits, with no plans to stop filming at any point in the foreseeable future.