Maverick Spirit Award - Russ Meyer

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Precious few filmmakers can make the claim that their body of work represents a genre in and of itself. But "A Russ Meyer Film" conjures up images of wild, lightning-fast plots, over-the-top violence, anarchic humor, and women with unusually large breasts. No other filmmaker can claim to wear more hats than Russ. He writes, produces, photographs and distributes all of his films. Few directors in the business can claim to have more creative control than Russ Meyer. He is the embodiment of what it means to be an "independent." Russ Meyer began his career as a newsreel photographer during WWII. He also photographed centerfold for the burgeoning Playboy magazine. Russ created his breakthrough film, The Immoral Mr. Tees, in 1959. The mainstream success of Tees showed that the public was ready for playful films with sexual and erotic content. In the 60s and 70s, Russ made a string of hit films, such as Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill!, Vixen, Super Vixens, and his foray into studio filmmaking, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. The last one was penned by the famous "thumbs up" film critic, Roger Ebert. Meyers is often criticized by feminists for his macho male fantasy point of view. This is absolutely unfounded, as the strongest and most memorable characters in his films are all women. They just happen to have large breasts!