Oscar-winning director captures the life and work of journalist Hunter S. Thompson

SEDONA, AZ - Oct 19, 2008 -The Sedona International Film Festival concludes its “OctoberFEST of Film” on Tuesday, Oct. 28 with the Northern Arizona premiere of “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson,” a new documentary that is playing to rave reviews from critics and audiences around the globe. There will be two screenings of the film at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres.

The film is narrated by Johnny Depp. “Gonzo” is directed by Alex Gibney, the Academy Award nominated director of Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room and the director of the Academy Award winning documentary, Taxi to the Dark Side.

“Gonzo” is the definitive film biography of a mythic American figure, a man that Tom Wolfe called our “greatest comic writer,” whose suicide, by gunshot, led Rolling Stone Magazine, where Thompson began his career, to devote an entire issue (its best-selling ever) to the man that launched a brash, irreverent, fearless style of journalism - named “gonzo” after an anarchic blues riff by James Booker.

Borrowing from Kris Kristofferson, Thompson was a “walking contradiction, partly truth, mostly fiction.” While his pen dripped with venom for crooked politicians, he surprised nervous visitors with the courtly manners and soft-spoken delivery of a Southern gentleman. Careening out of control in his personal life, Thompson also maintained a steel-eyed conviction about righting wrongs.

“Gonzo” is the definitive film biography of a mythic American figure, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, a man that Tom Wolfe called our “greatest comic writer. The film is making its Arizona premiere in Sedona on Oct. 28th, presented by the Sedona International Film Festival.

Today, in a time when “spin” has replaced the search for deeper meaning, Thompson remains an iconic crusader for truth, justice and a fiercely idealistic American way. Like Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (and the movie made from it) remains a wanderlust myth for generation after generation of American youth. And for America’s most esteemed journalists – from Tom Wolfe, and Walter Isaacson (former editor of Time) to the NY Times’ Frank Rich – he remains an iconic freelance, never afraid to gore every sacred cow in his path. He believed that writing could make a difference. It could change things.

Every narrated word in "Gonzo" springs from the typewriters of Hunter S. Thompson himself. Those words are given life by Johnny Depp (who narrates the film), the actor who once shadowed Thompson’s every move for the screen version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and who bankrolled Thompson’s spectacular funeral. The film plays at 4 and 7 p.m. on Oct. 28 at Harkins Sedona.

While director Gibney shaped the screen story, every narrated word in the film springs from the typewriters of Thompson himself. Those words are given life by Johnny Depp, the actor who once shadowed Thompson’s every move for the screen version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and who bankrolled Thompson’s spectacular funeral (photographed for this film).

The film is distinguished by its unprecedented cooperation of Thompson’s friends, family and estate. The filmmakers had access to hundreds of photographs and over 200 hours of audiotapes, home movies and documentary footage of the man. In addition, the estate granted unusual access to the work itself, allowing the film to quote from unpublished manuscripts, as well as the many letters, books and articles that Thompson produced. Ralph Steadman – the visionary artist whose ink-splattered drawings and paintings created a subversively iconic visual landscape for Thompson’s words – also granted the filmmakers access to previously unpublished artworks and Polaroid’s.

The signature of the film, however, is its focus on Thompson’s work, particularly his most provocative and productive period from 1965 to 1975. His wicked words resonate today, at a time when politicians have become manufactured celebrities, shrouding themselves in Teflon, issuing banalities whose only value is that they rarely offend. Too often, contemporary journalists play the politicians’ game, taking them seriously with a balance they don’t deserve. Thompson never stood for that. He understood, better than any other, that when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

The critics have been raving about “Gonzo.” Vanity Fair calls it “absolutely riveting, an extraordinary film.” USA Today says the film is “captivating, mesmerizing and fascinating” and says it is “not just for fans, but anyone interested in art, human nature and political history.”

Andrew Sarris from the New York Observer says “Gonzo” is “the most absorbing film, fiction or non-fiction, I have seen this year. ‘Gonzo’ is a must-see for everyone!”

“Fascinating!” says A.O. Scott from the New York Times. “At his best Hunter Thompson was braver, funnier and more ruthlessly honest than just about any other magazine writer and ‘Gonzo’ confirms his place in the best, most disreputable corner of our literary pantheon.”

The title sponsor for the Sedona premiere is The Sedona-Verde Valley Times. The series is also made possible by a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Sedona.

The film will be shown at Harkins Sedona Six Theatres on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10, or $8 for Film Sedona members, and will be available starting at 3:00 p.m. in the Harkins lobby. Cash or checks only. Seats are limited. Film Sedona members can purchase tickets in advance at the Sedona International Film Festival office, 1785 W. Hwy. 89A, Suite 2B, or by calling 282-1177.

For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.com.

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