Hal Hartley Biography

HAL HARTLEY

Date of Birth: November 3, 1959

Born and raised in Long Island, New York, Hartley never touched a camera until he took a film class at the Massachusetts College of Art, where he was studying to become a painter.

After graduating from the college, he went on to study the art of directing in New York's State University at Purchase. His graduation project, Kid, released in 1984, began his long run of independent movies that made a name for him in the film industry.

Notable indie films include The Unbelievable Truth (1988), Trust (1991), Simple Men (1992), and Amateur (1994), all of which were well crafted as risky, deeply intricate movies, admired by critics, worshipped by film students and fawned over at film festivals.

Despite his popularity in the independent film world, Hartley is relatively unknown to the general public.

But as a director who looks for art and not popularity, he doesn't mind his lack of spotlight. "I know that my films aren't popular," he says. "Nobody's more critical of my work than me, but I do think it's some of the most interesting work being made in America, and the fact that other people don't know about it is their problem, not mine."

No Such Thing (2002)
Kimono (2000)
The New Math(s) (2000)
The Book of Life (1998)
Henry Fool (1997) (uncredited)
Flirt (1995)
NYC 3/94 (1994)
Opera No. 1 (1994)
Amateur (1994)
Flirt (1993)
Simple Men (1992)
Ambition (1991)
Surviving Desire (1991)
Theory of Achievement (1991)
Trust (1990)
The Unbelievable Truth (1990)
Dogs (1988)
The Cartographer's Girlfriend (1987)
Kid (1984)

Filmography (writer):

No Such Thing (2002)
Kimono (2000)
The Book of Life (1998)
Henry Fool (1997) (uncredited)
Flirt (1995)
NYC 3/94 (1994)
Amateur (1994)
Simple Men (1992)
Ambition (1991)
Surviving Desire (1991)
Theory of Achievement (1991)
Trust (1990)
The Unbelievable Truth (1990)
Kid (1984)