The man behind the titles

If you don’t know Pablo Ferro’s name, you still know his work.

Ferro, not a household name to most but a legend to some, was thecredits/titles artist working on classics such as Dr Strangelove, Bullit and The Thomas Crown Affair.

Brazilian-born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker Richard Goldgewicht is in Rotterdam with the world premiere of his animated feature documentary Pablo, a portrait of the designer that has been five years in the making.

Cuban-born Ferro was also Hal Ashby’s best friend and a cultural figure in New York’s East Village in the 1960s and 1970s. He was also an untraditional family man, credited with living up to the label ‘2 girl guy’. “The movie explores the pros and cons of that lifestyle,” Goldgewicht says.

Ferro has some famous fans: Jeff Bridges narrates the film (he’s ‘less like a narrator, more like a professor,’ the director says) and interviewees include Anjelica Huston, Stan Lee, Jonathan Demme, Haskell Wexler and Jon Voight.

Ferro himself couldn’t make it to Rotterdam, only because he’s still busy working, currently devising the titles for Men In Black 3.

Goldgewicht hasn’t set other fesitvals yet, but this is sure to be a project that film lovers will relish. There are also art gallery shows being planned to show Ferro’s work through the decades.

He says: “This is a journey thorugh film history thorugh the perspective of this behind the scenes guy.”

The film’s world premiere at IFFR is Monday at 19:30 at Pathe 4. Shoreline is handling international sales.

More on the film here.