With such seminal movies as The Exorcist and The French Connection, Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin secured his place as a great filmmaker. But his own success story has the makings of classic American film. He was born in Chicago, the son of Russian immigrants. Immediately after high school, he found work in the mailroom of a local television station, and patiently worked his way into the directing booth during the heyday of live TV.

An award-winning documentary brought him attention as a talented new filmmaker and an advocate for justice, and it caught the eye of producer David L. Wolper, who brought Friedkin to Los Angeles. There he moved from television (one of the last episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour) to film (The Birthday Party, The Boys in the Band), displaying a versatile stylistic range. Released in 1971, The French Connection won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and two years later The Exorcist received ten Oscar nominations and catapulted Friedkin's career to stardom.

Penned by the director himself, The Friedkin Connection takes readers on a journey through the numerous chance encounters and unplanned occurrences that led a young man from a poor urban neighborhood to success in one of the most competitive industries and art forms in the world. From the streets of Chicago to the executive suites of Hollywood, from a passionate new artistic life as a renowned director of operas to his most recent tour de force, Killer Joe, William Friedkin has much to say about the world of moviemaking and his place within it.

Collection of five classic horrors. In 'The Exorcist' (1973) actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) has every reason to be content, having just completed a film with director Burke Dennings (Jack MacGowran). However, she becomes disturbed by the changes taking place in her 12-year-old daughter, Regan (Linda Blair).

At first sullen and withdrawn, Regan becomes aggressive and blasphemous, and ugly welts appear on her face and body. No medical cure is forthcoming, and after Burke is killed by being thrown from Regan's window, Chris turns to local Jesuit priest Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) for help. Karras then calls in exorcist Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow), who confirms that Regan is possessed by the devil.

In 'Friday the 13th' (1980) a group of fun-loving teenagers take jobs at a recently reopened summer camp, unaware of the gruesome circumstances that led to its closure 20 years prior: the drowning of a young boy named Jason and subsequent murder of two counsellors. No sooner has Camp Crystal Lake reopened for business than the killing spree begins again, as the teens are picked off one by one... In 'It' (1990) a group of seven childhood friends, known as The Losers Club, reunite to combat a mysterious threat which they had thought was long since buried.

Lurking in the shadows, and preying on their innermost fears, a shape-shifting, supernatural predator, manifesting as a killer clown called Pennywise (Tim Curry), prepares to strike again. In 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' (1984) American teenager Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) begins to suffer from nightmares and discovers that many of her friends are having similarly disturbed nights' sleep. Their dreams are haunted by the hideously scarred former child murderer Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) who, it soon transpires, has the power to kill them in their sleep.

Freddy is out to exact his revenge on the children of those who burned him alive in retribution for his crimes. The only way to avoid Freddy's reprisals is to avoid sleep, but Nancy knows that she can't stay awake for ever. Finally, in 'Carrie' (1976) Carrie (Sissy Spacek) is a gawky, unloved teenager whose awakening sexuality is at odds with her puritanical mother's fanatical teachings.

Physically abused at home and shunned at school, an unexpected prom invitation seems to be Carrie's first chance at happiness. But when the prom night ends in a vicious practical joke, Carrie's despair manifests itself in a fiery telekinetic revenge.

Actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) has every reason to be content, having just completed a film with director Burke Dennings (Jack MacGowran). However, she becomes disturbed by the changes taking place in her 12-year-old daughter, Regan (Linda Blair). At first sullen and withdrawn, Regan becomes aggressive and blasphemous, and ugly welts appear on her face and body. No medical cure is forthcoming, and after Burke is killed by being thrown from Regan's window, Chris turns to local Jesuit priest Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) for help. Karras then calls in exorcist Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow), who confirms that Regan is possessed by the devil. William Peter Blatty's screenplay, based on his own novel inspired by actual events, won an Oscar, and the film was deemed so powerful that it was refused a BBFC certificate for fifteen years.

Willem Dafoe and William L. Petersen star in this crime drama co-written and directed by William Friedkin. The film follows reckless FBI agent Richard Chance (Petersen) as he hunts elusive counterfeiter Eric Masters (Dafoe). After learning Masters has murdered his partner in cold blood, Chance vows to do whatever it takes to get his man. Dragging new recruit John Vulkovich (John Pankow) with him, the pair set out on a dangerous pursuit through the murky backstreets of Los Angeles.

Re-cut edition of the horror classic featuring 11 minutes of footage removed before its initial 1973 release, including the famous Spider Walk sequence. Actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) is disturbed by the changes taking place in her 12-year-old daughter, Regan (Linda Blair). At first sullen and withdrawn, Regan becomes aggressive and blasphemous, and ugly welts appear on her face and body. When no medical cure is forthcoming, Chris turns to local Jesuit priest Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) for help. Karras is shocked by what he sees in the MacNeil home and calls in exorcist Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow), who confirms that Regan is indeed possessed by the devil.

A double bill of the classic 70's thrillers featuring an Oscar-winning Gene Hackman as 'Popeye' Doyle. In the first film Doyle and Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider) are tough New York cops attempting to crack a drug smuggling ring. They have a small candy store under surveillance, but Doyle is not happy when he receives the order to work with a pair of French federal agents on the case, one of whom he has a long-standing feud with. Hackman and director William Friedkin both earned Oscars for the film, which also took the award for Best Picture. Whilst in the sequel Doyle (Hackman) travels to Marseilles to track down Charnier (Fernando Rey), the leader of a drug smuggling ring whom he failed to capture in the first film. Kidnapped by dealers and pumped with heroin, Doyle has to kick his new-found habit before he can set about his revenge.

Colonel Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) is a war hero whose peacekeeping mission to Yemen goes horribly wrong when he orders his men to open fire on a group of demonstrators. The colonel is subsequently charged with murder and asks his comrade-in-arms Hays Hodges (Tommy Lee Jones), a military lawyer of questionable ability, to defend him at the court martial. But when Hodges starts investigating he is surprised to find evidence that points to a cover-up. William Friedkin ('The Exorcist', 'The French Connection') directs.

The French Connection:
New York City detectives "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy Russo hope to break a narcotics smuggling ring and ultimately uncover The French Connection. But when one of the criminals tries to kill Doyle, he begins a deadly pursuit that takes him far outside the city limits. Based on a true story, this action-filled thriller, with its renowned chase scene, won five Academy Awards, in 1971, including Best Picture, Best Director (William Friedkin) and Best Actor for Hackman.

The French Connection 2:
Gene Hackman reprises his Oscar-winning role as Popeye Doyle, the hard-nosed New York detective determined to break a French narcotics ring. Kidnapped by heroin kingpin Alain Charnier in Marseilles, Doyle is mercilessly forced to become a junkie himself. Upon his release, Doyle must kick his habit and join forces with his French police counterpart to hunt down Charnier. Gritty action, riveting performances and a vividly realistic setting make this a powerful sequel to the brilliant original.

Emotionally evocative and painterly in execution, Rocky Schenck's photographs invite viewers to enter an otherworldly realm where reality becomes a dream landscape haunted by paranoia, isolation, longing, beauty, betrayal, fear, humor, and death. The author John Berendt describes Schenck's photographs as stills "taken from a movie that exists not on film but rather in one's memory, with all the fuzziness typical of remembered impressions." Photo District News proclaims, "It is a measure of the curious strength and unity of vision of the photographs that after you've examined all of them, you feel that there is no other way of seeing the world than his, that there is no other photography you'd rather be looking at." The Recurring Dream presents new work by Rocky Schenck. In addition to his signature black-and-white dreamscapes, the book introduces color images that Schenck creates by hand tinting black-and-white prints with color oil paint-a practice dating back to the Victorian era that makes each individual print unique. Schenck explores psychological, metaphysical, and pictorial worlds, ranging from suggestive landscapes to scenes of people dwelling in various "found realities" and the occasional manufactured reality. Inspired by his rich dream life, the images insinuate subtle narratives that entice viewers to create stories in their own imaginations. A foreword by the director William Friedkin, who has used Schenck's photographs as sets for several operas, and an afterword in which Schenck describes his creative process complete the volume.

Action thriller by William Friedkin, director of 'The French Connection' and 'The Exorcist'. Benicio del Toro stars as Aaron Hallam, a trained assassin who, plagued by traumatic flashbacks of death and destruction, has gone AWOL from the Special Forces and is living a feral existence in the forest of Silver Falls, Oregon. Trained to kill but mentally tortured, he starts brutally killing poachers and deer hunters who stray into the area.

FBI Special Agent Abby Durrell (Connie Nielsen) turns to L.T. Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones), the man who trained Hallam, for help with the case. But can he reach his former prize student - and get through to him before he himself becomes 'the hunted'?

Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Torino in this performance of Verdi's tragic opera.

Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Torino in this performance of Verdi's tragic opera.