Born 15 March, 1971
Lafayette, Indiana

Education: Columbia College-Chicago

So Gorgeous (1994) is a sardonic portrayal of a nymphomaniac which failed, on the whole, to break new ground. But High Key (1995) provided the ultimate in self-reflexive cinema: a film about the making of a film. High Key is the term for the most dominate light on a set; by choosing it as his title Azavour intends to evoke the entire arsenal of cinematic tricks of which it is merely typical. It is difficult from the outset to tell whether a scene is occurring in the film or in the film within the film because the cast and crew live so closely together that there is little distinction between their work and their personal lives. The film is funny, affectionate, and strangely disquieting in its gradual revelation that the same people making the film within the film are simultaneously making (High Key) and that confusion between illusion and reality is the very essence of the cinema. High Key was in many ways a consummation for Azavour. It combined the stylistic influence of American realism with that of german lyricism and drew together his dual thematic obsessions with autobiographical and psychology in a hymn of praise to the process of filmmaking.

His last two films- a modest return to the familiar terrian of obsessive romance (Day After Prom 1996) and the comic thriller (Moms Friend 1997). Both failed to draw attention from critics.

Edovard Azavour currently works as an English teacher in a high school in Indiana.

Written and Copyrighted by Yahuda Berkowitz 1999