Seventh Row

A place to think deeply about movies

Fiction directors:

In their own words

A practical guide to moviemaking, as told by the best filmmakers working today.

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Get (and give) inspiration for filmmaking, and show the world your insider film knowledge with our “In their own words: fiction directors” tote bag. The tote features original quotes from Seventh Row interviews with our favourite fiction directors, as featured in the book.

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Why we wrote the book

About

In their own words

Discover how the best fiction filmmakers from around the world approach everything from working across genres, to representation in film, to devising an aesthetic, to post-production.

Taking you through the process of making a movie, from conception to final cut, In their own words: Fiction directors offers sometimes contradictory advice on the magic of movie-making.

This is the second book in our In their own words series which began with In their own words: Documentary Masters.

Download the first chapter free!

Not sure if the book is for you? You can download a free preview of the book now! Discover how filmmakers approach working in different genres.

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Table of contents for In their own words: Fiction directors

A collection of advice, opinions, and working examples about different aspects of moviemaking

  • Working in different genres
  • Working with actors
  • Representation in film
  • Shooting
  • Creating a sense of place
  • Post-production
  • Film vs. theatre
  • Devising an aesthetic

Directors featured inside In their own words: Fiction directors

Haifaa Al-Mansour / Shola Amoo / Benedict Andrews / Quinn Armstrong / Amma Asante / Olivier Assayas / Jeff Barnaby / Sofia Bohdanowicz / Deragh Campbell / Dominic Cooke / Terence Davies / Yann Demange / Arnaud Desplechin / Andrea Dorfman / Gwaii Edenshaw / Chris Elena / Anne Emond / Richard Eyre / Sadaf Foroughi / Philippe Falardeau / Coralie Fargeat / Jennifer Fox / Merawi Gerima / Rupert Goold / Debra Granik / Andrew Haigh / Brett Haley / Mia Hansen-Love / Kathleen Hepburn / Atsuko Hirayanagi / Eliza Hittman / Joanna Hogg / Anna Rose Holmer / Susan Johnson / Wanuri Kahiu / Natasha Kermani / Ariane Labed / Yorgos Lanthimos / Pablo Larraín / Francis Lee / Mike Leigh / Philippe Lesage / Sam Levinson / Tonie Marshall / Lucrecia Martel / Ashley McKenzie / Kleber Mendonça Filho / Rebecca Miller / Oren Moverman / Jasmin Mozaffari / Cristian Mungiu / Darlene Naponse / Rungano Nyoni / Christian Petzold / Pascal Plante / Sally Potter / Kazik Radwanski / Atiq Rahimi / Lynne Ramsay / Kelly Reichardt / Patricia Rozema / Lone Scherfig / Céline Sciamma / Alankrita Shrivastava / Mina Shum / Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers / Warwick Thornton / Joachim Trier / Athina Rachel Tsangari / Lulu Wang / Alice Winocour / Carmel Winters / Chloe Zhao / Darya Zhuk

Praise for our books

I can’t recommend Roads to Nowhere enough

“A book that celebrates the auteur that is Reichardt without erasing the collectivity of making movies… This is a book about making films, but it’s also about watching cinema, experiencing its refracted perspectives, and going into the imagination of others.  As a Kelly Reichardt fan, I can’t recommend it enough and hope that, if you do venture into its pages of knowledge and discovery, you can find as much joy as I did…one sometimes feels alone in their cinephilia. Roads to Nowhere assures us, at least it assured me, that we’re not lonesome after all.”
Cláudio Alves
Critic, The Film Experience

Breathtaking in its insight

“Once again, the Seventh Row team of Alex Heeney and Orla Smith have collaborated on a book that is breathtaking in its insight. Roads to Nowhere: Kelly Reichardt’s Broken American Dreams follows the release of what might be the director’s finest work to date, First Cow. While there is plenty here about the early 1800s-set Cow, Reichardt’s entire career is represented….Reichardt deserves this sterling tribute, and readers will gain even greater appreciation for her work.”
Christopher Schobert
The Film Stage

A cornerstone for future Sciamma scholarship

“Portraits of Resistance covers enormous ground, reading Sciamma’s work as queer cinema, women’s cinema, European cinema, looking at the both the stories and the aesthetics, and how Sciamma has already created distinct and unique films with a singular voice. Not only is it a great introduction for any who want to learn more about the filmmaker, it will be a cornerstone for any future Sciamma scholarship.”
Shelagh Rowan-Legg
Editor, Screen Anarchy

Get both “In their own words” ebooks at a discount

Get both books in our “In their own words” series in which the best filmmakers from around the world opine about how to make movies, often with contradictory approaches.

Buy both ebooks

How to buy In their own words: Fiction directors

Pre-order now, and the book will be delivered to you as soon as it’s released.

The ebook will be delivered to you as both an ePub and PDF, which are readable on all tablets, smart phones, and eReaders.

Purchase the ebook now for $26.99 CAD which is ~$22USD and 16 GBP.

Or save money by becoming a Cinephile member, and get this book + 14 more for the price of 7 ebooks — a deep discount — plus more member perks!