Maverick, onetime New Queer Cinema director Todd Haynes (born January 2, 1961, Encino, California, USA) has had a controversial, if short, career. His 1987 (stop-action animation) film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, caused Richard Carpenter to sue him and was removed from distribution. His 1991 debut, Poison, based on the writings of Jean Genet, and partly funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, was targeted by the American Family Association's Reverend Donald Wildmon as inappropriately federally funded "filth". His second effort, 1995's Safe, confirmed him as a maverick director capable of dealing with more issues than his new queer cinema tag might indicate. He also directed the glam inspired Velvet Goldmine (1998), and the Douglas Sirk inspired Far From Heaven (2002). Haynes is a semiotics graduate of Brown University, and received an MFA from Bard College.
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