Metropolitan Watch a clip from Whit Stillman's debut feature.

Whit Stillman is not dead. The director of three indie hits in the 90s has fallen off the radar since making The Last Days Of Disco in 1998, but he's still alive and, well, about to ease himself back into the director's chair.

It was the 1990 charmer Metropolitan that made his name and led to a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination (he lost out to - Jesus wept! - Ghost). Set amid the debutante scene, it's as far removed from the previous year's New York indie gem Do The Right Thing as the Hamptons are from Harlem. Stillman followed his debut four years later with the equally well-received Barcelona.

Metropolitan is now being re-released, and while the production values may not be the highest (it was shot on Super16), it's still a great example of how to make a movie without a budget - it turns out that talk really is cheap.

In the video Whit looks back at the making of Metropolitan, and reveals why he wants to turn the clock back 16 years when he finally makes his fourth movie - set in the Caribbean - in the near future.

Metropolitan is re-released at the ICA Cinema, London, on Friday 19th May. It will be released on DVD on Monday 17th July.

Adrian Hennigan | Published 18 May 06

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