In Memoriam | The Filmmakers We Lost in 2015

The time has come to look back over the previous year and consider the careers and contributions of all those we lost. Some legitimate film legends passed on this year, and it can only do them respect – not to mention give audiences a wonderful service – to revisit their life and work; you could do much worse than to revisit some of the films of Omar Sharif, or listen to the excellent scores of James Horner. 

This year was especially rough to fans of horror and genre cinema, as we lost not only one of horror’s great directors, Wes Craven, but several notable and/or prolific genre actors passed as well, including Leonard Nimoy, iconic monster performers Gunnar Hansen and Betsy Palmer, notable B-movie presence Robert Z’Dar, and the legendary Christopher Lee. 

Notable directors were lost this year. Chantal Akerman made quiet realist dramas that were no less powerful than anything written by Chekhov. Albert Maysles made some of the best documentaries ever made. 

One prolific director you may not hear about come Academy Awards night is filmmaker and author of feminist erotic films Candida Royalle, one of the first industry professionals to make an attempt at pornography for women. Royalle was a thoughtful filmmaker with an aesthetic drive, and her work is no less important than others on this list. 

Let us look back at the careers of the following people on this list, and raise a glass to the talent, the hard work, and the amazing movies they all left behind. 

Slideshow: The Filmmakers we Lost in 2015

Top Image: Paramount

Witney Seibold is a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. He also contributes to Legion of Leia, and Blumhouse. You can follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.

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