In today's reality young filmmakers not only have to find within themselves huge amounts of creativity necessary for making widely acclaimed movies, but also follow bravely their artistic conscience. And the pressure of finding one's way to a broader group of viewers often entails compromises on the part of young authors. Canadian director Roger Spottiswoode has always been perfectly aware of the fact that unwanted compromises impede the translation of one's own visions onto the silver screen, and fortunately he managed to avoid them during most of his career. Within the space of three decades of working in the film business, Spottiswoode has learnt that it is essential to fight for one's beliefs at any price, for the viewers evaluate the finished film, not the abstract intentions. Who would be more competent for the position of the Head of the Jury of Student Etudes Competition?

Roger Spottiswoode
Spottiswoode started his career in the 1970s as an editor, and from the very beginning he was lucky to have creative relationships with people who respect the power of film expression, not filtered through the statistics and averaged opinions of target groups. The first of such authors was Sam Peckinpah, one of the most acclaimed American directors of all time, for whom Spottiswoode edited “Straw Dogs", “The Getaway", and “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid". The second one was a producer, Eric Pleskow, who confided in Spottiswoode's director's instincts and let him film an uncompromising vision of political intrigues in Nicaragua during civil war. This is how one of the most underestimated films of the 80s was made, namely “Under Fire" with Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Ed Harris, the last only just starting work in the film industry.

In Spottiswoode's career there are a lot of idealistic, politically and socially engaged films, which exhort to reveal any distortions throughout the world, and summon to fight for human rights. In “And the Band Played On", made for HBO, in a moving way he told the story of a few people's struggle with the raging AIDS epidemic; in “Hiroshima" he measured himself against the topic of the first atomic bombing, presenting the events which led American president, Harry S. Truman, to make such a difficult decision; “Shake Hands with the Devil" tells a story of indifference which resulted in genocide in Ruanda; “The Children of Huang Shi" is about tough reality in China in the 1930s, when bravery - this genuine, not awaiting the limelight - seemed to have been running down.

Still from "The Children of Huang Shi"
In short, Roger Spottiswoode takes up those topics which are not necessarily popular among other creators. As a result he gained in the industry the title of a non-conformist who follows his own paths. Nevertheless, he is interested not only in opportunities to shed light on some important events, but also in individuals who somehow distinguish themselves from the crowd, even if they often live outside the margins of society. Panamanian general Manuel Noriega, Russian president Boris Yeltsin, or famous criminal D.B. Cooper - Spottiswoode is interested in them both in terms of how they were overcoming the adversities of fate and what their stances or actions symbolize.

Spottiswoode works within different film genres, but the most important for him is the story and its characters. It is can also be seen in “Tomorrow Never Dies", a James Bond film which the Canadian directed in 1997. This film has become Spottiswoode's best-known accomplishment in the popular culture, which somewhat overshadowed his other, more significant achievements and won him a reputation of a commercial director. Yet in “Tomorrow Never Dies" he included the majority of elements comprising his perception of cinema, telling in the background about the growing globalization, the seizures of power by media moguls, and reducing the politics to the role of a safe excuse.

Still from "Tomorrow Never Dies"
Roger Spottiswoode continuously endeavors to guard the contemporary world, encouraging to discussion, which too often fades away in favor of escapist entertainment. He fights against emotional numbness, by means of the medium of film he convinces that everyone can become a hero. We are honored that Roger Spottiswoode agreed to take the position of the Head of the Jury of Student Etudes Competition, for he is a creator able to show the young filmmakers the suitable artistic path.