Gary Joseph (1950-2012)

(left to right) Seth Shire, TCM Host Robert Osborne and Gary Joseph at the TCM Classic Movies Classic Film Festival Hollywood 2010

Gary Joseph died this past Sunday (October 14, 2012).  He was my very great friend with whom I saw probably 1,000 movies over the course of our friendship, which lasted 26 years.  His death leaves a giant hole.

Many people have friends in their lives that they have known for 26 years, but I will bet few can remember the exact moment that they met these friends.  I can.  I met Gary, appropriately enough, in a movie theatre where we were both taking a film class.  He sat two seats away from me, stuck out his hand and said, “I’m Gary Joseph.”  I did not know it at the time, but a unique and important person had entered my life.  When we met, Gary was 35-years-old with red hair and a red beard.  When he died on Sunday he was 61 and what hair he had left had turned gray.

“New Directors New Films” at Film Society of Lincoln Center and MOMA

A 24-year-old Stanley Kubrick shooting "Fear and Desire."

From March 21 – April 1 the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art will present the 41^st annual “New Directors/New Films” series.  The festival is dedicated to showcasing emerging filmmaking talent on an international scale.  This year’s festival will screen 29 feature length films (24 narratives, five documentaries), as well as 12 short films, representing a total of 28 countries.