Paul Schrader gets out of Facebook prison after Kevin Spacey's comments – Variety



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Now that the Oscars are over, the director of "First Reformed," Paul Schrader, has been released from what he calls "Facebook's Prison" as a result of the writer-director's comments about the film. actor dishonored Kevin Spacey.

The distributor "First Reformed" A24 asked Schrader not to talk about social media during the awards season, wrote the director on Facebook, following a November ticket now removed which indicated that he had been invited to direct a new film and that he wished it. Spacey to be the star. Given the recent lawsuits against Spacey over allegations of sexual abuse, the film's producer told Schrader that the hiring of Spacey "is not possible".

Schrader wrote: "I believe that there are crimes in life but no crimes in the art. Spacey should be punished for all the crimes that his real person has created. But not for the art. All art is a crime. Punishing him as an artist only diminishes the art. Put Celine in jail, put Pound in jail, punish Wilde and Bruce if you must, but do not censor their art. "

The comments came at a time when A24 was working on the rewards campaign for "First Reformed". Schrader forced the distributor to remain silent on social media and got his first Oscar nomination for the original screenplay, though she eventually lost against Green Paper. Controlling the social media of a potential candidate is a common practice for rewards teams during the voting season, and A24 was probably trying to keep the right press around the film.

In a February 26 Facebook message, Schrader made his return to the website, explaining that after commenting on Spacey in November, "A24 m asked to stay out of FB until the end of the day. end of the awards season ".

Schrader also took a moment to share some updates of life and his feelings for the awards season.

"I realized that Facebook did not really miss me a lot," he said. "He's immersed in a process that has made me want to reward prizes I did not even respect."

He then mentioned his seasonal traveling companions. "I have met so often with Spike Lee, Alfonso Cuaron, Pawel Pawlikowski, Bo Burnham and Barry Jenkins, at so many ceremonies and events that I will never need to see them again," he said. he declared.

Keeping the situation clear, A24 tweeted jokingly at a screen shot of Schrader's Facebook post with the comment deleted since: "The 2018/19 awards season is officially over. Paul Schrader has left the FB prison and is no longer in the custody of A24. "

Some thought it was not a joke, and author-director-writer Minhal Baig tweeted, "What a joke" that a director wants to work with someone who has been accused of sexual misconduct and that you, as a studio, keep it quiet to avoid losing the momentum of rewards. It's a very revealing tweet, sad and cynical. "

A24 did not immediately respond to Variety request for comment.

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