BAFTA Screenwriters Lecture: Guillermo Arriaga
On Monday 26 September 2011 on very rainy London night, Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga spoke to a packed theatre at the BFI as part of this year's BAFTA Screenwriters Lecture series. He is famous for fragmentary, non-linear stories, as seen in Babel and 21 Grams. Both of these films were directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.
- Here are some choice snippets selected by BAFTA on the night.
Arriaga on Babel's director: "Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu is a brilliant director with whom I disagree profoundly." #BAFTAwriters- Arriaga: "Each story has a different way to be told. If the classical 3-part structure works, great. If not, so what?" #BAFTAwriters
- Arriaga on needing to supervise his films' editing: "The way I write, removing a scene creates a snowball effect." #BAFTAwriters
- Arriaga on new trends: "I told Tarantino, 'you've ruined cinema - everyone's trying to write dialogue only you can write'." #BAFTAwriters
- Arriaga: "I like to write scenes in a dialectic way. Each character enters a scene with a different dramatic objective." #BAFTAwriters
- Arriaga: "Some filmmakers have their lives so organised, nothing happens. I come from a tradition where everything happens." #BAFTAwriters
- Arriaga on screenwriting wisdom: "I don't do any research. I'm not interested in knowing where my characters 'come from'." #BAFTAwriters
- Arriaga: "The process of discovering art is the same as of discovering love: you need surprises." #BAFTAwriters
- Arriaga on 21 Grams' 'risky' script: "I saw Magnolia & thought if PT Anderson can drop frogs from the sky, I can do anything." #BAFTAwriters
- Thanks to Guillermo Arriaga and the @BFI for tonight's fantastic #BAFTAwriters lecture. We're signing off for the evening...
Here's what people were saying about the lecture elsewhere on the Twittersphere...
- Arriaga on his 'fragmented' style: "You can't write linear and then cut and paste. You have to feel the dramatic questions." #BAFTAwriters
I wish I was at @BAFTA @BFI listening to my favourite screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. #completelygutted. #BAFTAwriters.
Guillermo Arriaga likes to discover the ending of his stories, and not know it beforehand. Interesting lecture @BFI yesterday. #BAFTAwriters
“I don’t like actors to improvise because in my scripts there is a purpose for every word”, Guillermo Arriaga (Babel) #BAFTAwriters lecture
Insightful evening with Guillermo Arriaga @BFI #BAFTAWriters lecture.A refreshing& unusual way of talking about screen-writing.I'm inspired!
'Imagination is more important than knowledge'-> inspiring statements from Guillermo Arriaga tonight #bfi #BAFTAwriters
Photo: So I went to watch Guillermo Arriaga lecture tonight as part of the Screenwriters on Screenwriting... t.co/wVJKgwQt
