Irwin Winkler: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

ABOUT THE SERIES: 

Irwin Winkler’s career as a producer, director and writer encompasses popular and influential movies that have impacted contemporary culture. With a passion for big, bold, meaningful stories, his 58 films include an array of true screen classics, garnering among them 61 Oscar nominations and 12 Academy Awards. Among Winkler’s multiple nominations include five Best Picture nominations, each for a pioneering film: the tale of underdog sports triumph, ROCKY, which forged one of most globally recognizable movie characters and themes in history and won an Oscar for Best Picture in 1977; RAGING BULL, which turned the biopic into a gritty, lyrical work of art; the history-capturing look at the U.S. space program, THE RIGHT STUFF, the iconic gangster tale GOODFELLAS and most recently 2020’s THE IRISHMAN which reunited Winkler with Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci and garnered nine Academy Award nominations. Winkler is the only producer honored with three films on the American Film Institute’s list of the “Top 100 Films.”

In 1989 Winkler made his directorial debut from his own screenplay, GUILTY BY SUSPICION, which was hailed by the New York Times as “A stirring and tragic evocation of terrible times” about Hollywood’s all-too-real blacklisting era. Starring Robert De Niro as a prominent director asked to “name names”, the film presaged a writing and directing career that would, like Winkler’s producing career, be focused on taut human drama and politically-charged themes and nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Winkler next directed one of his most distinctive features, the musical biography of the legendary composer Cole Porter: DE-LOVELY. Featuring Golden Globe-nominated performances from Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, as well as performances from pop and rock music talents, including Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Elvis Costello, Robbie Williams, Natalie Cole, and Diana Krall, all performing Porter’s classic songs, the film was selected as the closing night gala event at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival

He is currently in post-production on ALTO KNIGHTS which will be in theaters November 14, 2024 starring Robert De Niro. CREED III, released in March 2023, directed by and starring Michael B. Jordan, has grossed over 273 million worldwide and is the highest-grossing opening in history for a sports movie, paving the way for the fourth installment of the franchise CREED IV which Winkler is currently in development on. Winkler was honored in 2017 by the Producers Guild of America with the prestigious David O. Selznick Achievement Award which recognized his lifetime body of work.