'Worlds Imagined: Mark Friedberg' Highlights Film Designs

Sag Harbor Cinema presents a brand-new summer exhibition, “Worlds Imagined: Mark Friedberg,” showcasing the film designs of Springs native Mark Friedberg. The exhibit — the first ever devoted to the artist — will include a wide selection of behind the scenes video, set stills, drawings, models, and props from 10 films for which Friedberg served as production designer: “Across the Universe,” “The Darjeeling Limited,” “The Ice Storm,” “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Noah,” “Far From Heaven,” “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,” “Pollock,” “Joker” and “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

“Whether it’s Gotham City, suburban Connecticut in the 1950s, James Baldwin’s Harlem, a luxury train in India, or the living room of a morbidly obese English teacher that never leaves his apartment, Mark’s work brings to a film a unique blend of stylized imagination and realism,” says the cinema’s artistic director Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan.

“Known for his passion for historical research and for details, Mark makes each of those details alive, meaningful,” she added. “His imagined worlds are so vivid, I am not surprised so many filmmakers consider his creative collaboration essential. I am very grateful he has accepted to show his art at the cinema.”

“I’m honored to show my film designs in the place that first inspired my love of movies,” says Friedberg, a lifelong Springs resident who has worked on over 50 films and TV series throughout his accomplished career, forging long-lasting creative collaborations with directors such as Todd Haynes, Ang Lee, Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch, Julie Taymor and Todd Phillips.

One of the most respected and sought-after production designers of his generation, Friedberg has helped to shape — and continues to shape — the visual landscape of contemporary cinema. This year alone his visionary work will be on display in three upcoming, eagerly-awaited films: Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” Darren Aronofsky’s “Caught Stealing” and Jim Jarmusch’s “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother.”

“I love working with Mark, because his ideas always inspire me to go deeper. He is a philosopher, a theorist, a mensch, and a great designer,” says Darren Aronofsky, who has also collaborated with Friedberg on “The Whale” and “Noah.”

“I had the fortune of working with Mark on three films and I discovered his details are always the bigger picture. He’s always an inspiration in mind and visuals,” says cinematographer Ed Lachman, who worked with the designer on “Far From Heaven,” “Wonderstruck” and the HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce.”

The exhibit will open on Saturday, July 5, at 5:30 p.m. on the cinema’s third floor with a toast to Friedberg and his work. The reception will be followed by a screening of Ed Harris’s 2000 film “Pollock” about Abstract Expressionist painter — and fellow Springs resident — Jackson Pollock. The film was shot in East Hampton and surrounding areas with great access to the painter’s studio and property provided by the Pollock-Krasner House. The screening will include a Q&A with Friedberg and the film’s producer Fred Berner.

For more information, visit sagharborcinema.org. “Worlds Imagined: Mark Friedberg” will remain on view at Sag Harbor Cinema through August. Sag Harbor Cinema is at 90 Main Street in Sag Harbor.