Gregg Araki

Araki was born in Los Angeles on December 17, 1959, to Japanese American parents.{{cite book |last=Rich |first=B. Ruby |date=March 26, 2013 |title=New Queer Cinema: The Director's Cut |location=Durham, North Carolina |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=9780822399698}}{{cite book |last=Prono |first=Luca |date=December 30, 2007 |title=Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Popular Culture |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9780313335990 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofga0000pron }} He grew up in nearby Santa Barbara, California, and enrolled in college at the University of California, Santa Barbara.{{cite book |last=Hart |first=Kylo-Patrick R. |date=September 20, 2010 |title=Images for a Generation Doomed: The Films and Career of Gregg Araki |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780739139974}} He graduated with a B.A. from UCSB in 1982.{{cite web |url=http://www.alumni.ucsb.edu/newsevents/notable/art |title=UCSB Notable Alumni: Art |website=alumni.ucsb.edu |publisher=UC Santa Barbara Alumni Association |access-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-date=May 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505211748/http://alumni.ucsb.edu/newsevents/notable/art |url-status=live }} He later attended the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, where he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in 1985.{{cite web |url=http://news.usc.edu/19521/USC-Filmmakers-Descend-on-Sundance/ |title=USC Filmmakers Descend on Sundance |website=news.usc.edu |date=January 29, 2007 |access-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-date=March 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318075722/https://news.usc.edu/19521/USC-Filmmakers-Descend-on-Sundance/ |url-status=dead }}

Araki made his directorial debut in 1987 with Three Bewildered People in the Night. With a budget of only $5,000 and using a stationary camera, he told the story of a romance between a video artist, her sweetheart, and her gay friend.{{cite journal |last=Chua |first=Lawrence |date=Fall 1992 |title=Gregg Araki |url=http://bombmagazine.org/article/1581/ |journal=Bomb |publisher=New Art Publications |issue=41 |access-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063730/http://bombmagazine.org/article/1581/ |url-status=dead }} Two years later, Araki followed up with The Long Weekend (O' Despair), another film with a $5,000 budget. His third film, The Living End (1992), saw an increase to $25,000. Director Jon Jost lent him camera equipment and provided spare film stock.{{Cite news |date=August 28, 1992 |title=A LOST GENERATION |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/08/28/a-lost-generation/ |website=chicagotribune.com |access-date=March 2, 2025}} He often had to shoot his early movies spontaneously and without proper permits.

Despite the financial constraints, Araki's films received critical acclaim. He received awards from the Locarno International Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, with an additional nomination for a Sundance Film Festival award.{{cite news |date=December 21, 1989 |title=Do The Right Thing wins honors |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wKExAAAAIBAJ&dq=the-long-weekend%20araki&pg=1655%2C5328306 |newspaper=The Item |location=Sumter, South Carolina |access-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319062326/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wKExAAAAIBAJ&dq=the-long-weekend+araki&pg=1655%2C5328306 |url-status=live }}

Araki's next three movies—Totally F***ed Up (1993), The Doom Generation (1995), and Nowhere (1997)—were collectively dubbed the Teenage Apocalypse trilogy. The trio has been characterized as "... teen alienation, hazy sexuality and aggression."{{cite web |url=http://thoughtcatalog.com/ryan-oconnell/2011/01/gregg-araki-gay-boys-aliens-and-shoegaze/ |title=The Work of Gregg Araki: Teenagers, Aliens and Shoegaze |last=O'Connell |first=Ryan |date=January 31, 2011 |website=thoughtcatalog.com |access-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319062323/https://thoughtcatalog.com/ryan-oconnell/2011/01/gregg-araki-gay-boys-aliens-and-shoegaze/ |url-status=live }} A former student of his at UC Santa Barbara, Andrea Sperling, co-produced the films with him.{{Cite news |last=Taubin |first=Amy |date=September 7, 1999 |title=Market Forces |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/film/market-forces-6419816 |newspaper=The Village Voice |location=New York City |access-date=July 21, 2016}}

The trilogy saw Araki work increasingly with more notable actors and actresses including Rose McGowan, Margaret Cho, Parker Posey, Guillermo Díaz, Ryan Phillippe, Heather Graham, and Mena Suvari among others.

The trilogy received varying degrees of reviews, from a thumbs down and "zero stars" by Roger Ebert to "Literally the Best Thing Ever" by Rookie, and was eventually heralded as cult classics.{{cite web |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-doom-generation-1995 |title=The Doom Generation |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=November 10, 1995 |website=rogerebert.com |access-date=December 17, 2014}}{{cite journal |last=Cills |first=Hazel |date=June 13, 2012 |title=Literally the Best Thing Ever: Gregg Araki's Totally Effed-Up L.A. |url=http://www.rookiemag.com/2012/06/ltbte-gregg-araki/ |journal=Rookie |access-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319062548/https://www.rookiemag.com/2012/06/ltbte-gregg-araki/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.futuremovies.co.uk/filmmaking/gregg-araki-at-worlds-end/matt-mcallister |title=Gregg Araki Interview: At World's End |last=McAllister |first=Matt |date=September 6, 2011 |website=futuremovies.co.uk |access-date=December 17, 2014}}

File:Gregg Araki.jpg

Araki's following film, Splendor (1999), was both an homage to screwball comedies of the 1940s and 1950s and a response to the controversy surrounding his ongoing relationship (despite Araki self-identifying as gay) with actress Kathleen Robertson. Hailed as the director's most optimistic film to date,{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} it made its premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.{{cite web |url=http://history.sundance.org/films/1923/splendor |title=1999 Sundance Film Festival - Splendor |website=history.sundance.org |publisher=Sundance Film Festival |access-date=December 18, 2014}}

Araki's next project was the ill-fated MTV production This Is How the World Ends, originally planned with a budget of $1.5 million.{{cite book |date=October 21, 2010|editor1-link=Yvonne Tasker |editor1-last=Tasker |editor1-first=Yvonne |title=Fifty Contemporary Film Directors |location=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136919459}} He viewed it as a chance to reach the masses through MTV's viewership and signed on to do the project despite the budget being cut to $700,000. Araki wrote, directed, and shot the pilot episode, but ultimately MTV decided against the project and the effort never aired.

Following a short hiatus, Araki returned in 2004 with the critically acclaimed Mysterious Skin, based on the 1995 Scott Heim novel of the same name. This marked Araki's first work with someone else's source material.{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Damon |date=February 2008 |title=Rebel, Rebel |url=http://brightlightsfilm.com/59/59arakiiv.php |journal=Bright Lights Film Journal |location=Oakland, California |issue=59 |access-date=December 18, 2014 |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319062844/https://brightlightsfilm.com/rebel-rebel-gregg-araki-reflects-on-the-living-end-and-his-totally-fed-up-career-at-sundance-2008/ |url-status=live }}

Araki's next feature was the stoner comedy Smiley Face (2007), featuring Anna Faris, Adam Brody, and John Krasinski, written by Dylan Haggerty. It marked a stark change from the dark, heavy drama of Mysterious Skin, a change purposely planned by Araki. It received very favorable reviews, with some describing it as another of Araki's potential cult classics.{{cite web |url=http://independentfilmquarterly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=340&Itemid=115 |title=Smiley Face |last=Konrad |first=Todd |website=independentfilmquarterly.com |access-date=December 18, 2014 |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319062847/https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.3/jquery.min.js |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Mottram |first=James |date=January 26, 2007 |title=Brits reign at Sundance |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/brits-reign-at-sundance-433616.html |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |access-date=December 18, 2014 |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319062906/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/brits-reign-at-sundance-433616.html |url-status=live }}

Kaboom marked Araki's tenth film and made its premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. It was awarded the first ever Queer Palm for its contribution to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues.{{cite web |url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/kaboom_claims_first_queer_palm |title=UPDATE: "Kaboom" Claims First Queer Palm |last=Tsiokos |first=Basil |date=May 23, 2010 |website=indiewire.com |publisher=Indiewire |access-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319062844/https://www.indiewire.com/2010/05/update-kaboom-claims-first-queer-palm-55037/ |url-status=live }}

Araki followed that film with White Bird in a Blizzard (2014), which was given limited release to mixed reviews. Araki returned to television with the 2019 series Now Apocalypse, co-executive produced by Gregory Jacobs and Steven Soderbergh on Starz.

Araki's next film, the comedy/thriller I Want Your Sex, will star Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, and Charli XCX. Production is scheduled to begin in October 2024 in Los Angeles. The screenplay was written by Araki and Karley Sciortino.{{cite news |last1=Bergeson |first1=Samantha |title=Charli xcx to Star in Gregg Araki's 'Provocative' Thriller 'I Want Your Sex' |url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/charli-xcx-gregg-araki-i-want-your-sex-1235042084/?fbclid=IwY2xjawE-1vZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRQVUjzY-nmBKAaB_HnQbb9qmqDmY23B2O0OWr3oqLFHXGphIlkM-8Sd1g_aem_Ix5s-4hrn5TPrHfVeN6cAw |access-date=August 30, 2024 |publisher=Indiewire |date=August 30, 2024}}

One notable feature of Araki's work is the frequent presence of shoegaze music. This was first seen in the soundtrack of Totally Fucked Up, and was also substantially featured in the films Nowhere and Mysterious Skin.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/06/gregg-araki-kaboom-shoegazing|title=Gregg Araki's films are giving the US a crash course in shoegazing|last=O'Neill|first=Phelim|date=August 5, 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=November 17, 2016|archive-date=March 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319062857/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/06/gregg-araki-kaboom-shoegazing|url-status=live}} Both The Living End and Nowhere owe their titles to this shoegaze influence: The Living End after The Jesus and Mary Chain song of the same name, and Nowhere after Ride's album Nowhere.{{cite news |last=O'Neill |first=Phelim |date=August 5, 2011 |title=Gregg Araki's films are giving the US a crash course in shoegazing |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/06/gregg-araki-kaboom-shoegazing |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=December 18, 2014 |archive-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319062857/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/06/gregg-araki-kaboom-shoegazing |url-status=live }}

In 2010, Kaboom was named the first-ever winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm. Araki has also been honored with the 2006 Filmmaker on the Edge Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.ptownfilmfest.org/info/awards.php?categoryName=Filmmaker%20on%20the%20Edge |title=FILMMAKER ON THE EDGE |website=ptownfilmfest.org |publisher=Provincetown International Film Festival |access-date=December 17, 2014}} In 2013, Araki was recognized by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City with the retrospective God Help Me: Gregg Araki.{{cite web|title=God Help Me: Gregg Araki|url=http://www.madmuseum.org/series/god-help-me-gregg-araki|website=Museum of Arts and Design|access-date=August 5, 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Renninger|first1=Bryce J|title=Never-Aired MTV Pilot & Master Class at Museum of Art Design's Gregg Araki Retrospective|url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/never-aired-mtv-pilot-master-class-at-museum-of-art-designs-gregg-araki-retrospective|website=Indiewire|date=August 19, 2013|access-date=August 5, 2015}}{{cite web|last1=Grossman|first1=Jeremy|title=Cult filmmaker Gregg Araki talks career retrospective|url=http://www.nyunews.com/2013/09/17/araki/|website=Washington Square News|date=September 17, 2013|publisher=New York University|access-date=August 5, 2015}}

Araki has previously self-identified as "a gay Asian American".{{cite book |last=Yutani |first=Kimberly |chapter=Gregg Araki and the Queer New Wave |editor1-last=Leong |editor1-first=Russell |year=1996 |title=Asian American Sexualities: Dimensions of the Gay and Lesbian Experience |publisher=Psychology Press |page=177 |isbn=9780415914376}} However, he had a relationship with actress Kathleen Robertson from 1997 to 1999.{{cite news |last=Szymanski |first=Michael |date=July 20, 1997 |title=Having It Both Ways |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-20-ca-14365-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California |access-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-date=May 13, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513165745/http://articles.latimes.com/1997/jul/20/entertainment/ca-14365 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Turner |first=Megan |date=September 8, 1999 |title=STRANGE BEDFELLOWS: GAY DIRECTOR FALLS FOR 90210 BABE |url=https://nypost.com/1999/09/08/strange-bedfellows-gay-director-falls-for-90210-babe/ |newspaper=New York Post |location=New York City |access-date=December 17, 2014 |archive-date=March 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328165103/https://nypost.com/1999/09/08/strange-bedfellows-gay-director-falls-for-90210-babe/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Lim |first=Dennis |date=January 14, 2011 |title=Young and Restless Never Gets Old |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/movies/16araki.html |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York City |access-date=December 17, 2014}} In a 2014 interview, at which time he was in a relationship with a male partner, Araki said: "I don't really identify as anything", adding "I'd probably identify as gay at this point, but I have been with women."{{Cite news|url=https://www.out.com/entertainment/michael-musto/2014/10/20/gregg-araki-new-movie-white-bird-blizzard-being-gay-hollywood|title=Gregg Araki on His New Movie, White Bird in a Blizzard, and Being Gay in Hollywood|last=Musto|first=Michael|date=October 20, 2014|work=Out}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons}}

• {{IMDb name|0000777}}
• [https://archive.today/20130102025608/http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/15/araki.html Young, Beautiful, and F***ed: A conversation with Gregg Araki and other members of The Doom Generation] in Bright Lights Film Journal

{{Gregg Araki}}

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