The life of iconic photographer Robert Mapplethorpe is examined in Director Ondi Timoner’s new biographical drama, Mapplethorpe.
Timoner’s film charts the span of the ambitious artist — whose portraits, still lifes and chronicles of New York City’s underground BDSM scene inspired censorship debates throughout the ’80s and remain touchstones of 20th Century photography — from his rise to fame in the 1970s through his untimely death in 1989.
Following the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles on March 3, Timoner sat down with Director Maria Burton (For the Love of George) to discuss the making of Mapplethorpe.
Mapplethorpe is Timoner's narrative feature debut. Her other credits include the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary features Dig! and We Live in Public and the documentaries The Nature of the Beast, Join Us, Cool It and Brand: A Second Coming. She also directed Jungletown, a television series for Viceland. Timoner has been a DGA member since 2005, has served as an alternate on the DGA National Board and is a member of the DGA Special Projects Committee and Documentary Awards Host Committee.
You can listen to Timoner's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find more DGA podcast episodes here.