An honorable attorney is thrust headlong into the murky world of Cold War espionage in Director Steven Spielberg’s biopic, Bridge of Spies.
Spielberg’s historical drama tells the amazing true story of James Donovan (Tom Hanks), a New York lawyer who accepts the unenviable task of defending Rudolf Abel, a Russian spy captured in America. After Abel is convicted, Donovan’s task becomes even more complicated as he’s drafted by the CIA to negotiate the release of U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers, who was shot down over the Soviet Union during a mission in his U-2 spy plane, whom the Soviets may be willing to exchange for their man Abel.
Following the DGA membership screening in New York on October 7, Spielberg had a conversation about the making of Bridge of Spies with Director Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street), where he spoke about unveiling through film the more complex elements of this slice of history that he has been familiar with since his childhood. Spielberg also participated in the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles on October 18 moderated by Director Paul Thomas Anderson (Inherent Vice).
In addition to Bridge of Spies, Spielberg’s filmography includes the feature films Sugarland Express, 1941, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Always, Hook, Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2, A.I., Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal, War of the Worlds, The Adventures of Tintin: the Secret of the Unicorn, and War Horse. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for The Color Purple, Schindler's List, and Saving Private Ryan; and was nominated for the DGA Award for Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial, Empire of the Sun, Amistad, Munich, and Lincoln. In 2000, Mr. Spielberg was honored with the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been a member of the Guild since 1971.