Elwood Perez loves reading (and rereading) his favorite books

Elwood Perez, director of over 49 films, hasn’t made a film for the past 10 years — until now. He is back with the film Otso, which will be part of the National Film Festival All Masters Edition from Sept. 11-17 at all SM Cinemas. Ten Films from some of our master directors will be screened. Watch and support our local films.

Over dinner, I asked Elwood to share his favorite books. He is a voracious reader and loves reading and rereading his favorite books. He is also very generous with his books and finds himself buying some of the same titles over and over again.

Among his favorites are:

1. A Separate Peace by John Knowles. “It was part of my early reading. It’s a complicated book about friendship.”

2. Tennessee Williams plays A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Glass Menagerie, The Rose Tattoo, Orpheus Descending, Summer and Smoke, Suddenly, Last Summer, etc. “They paved the way for me to get in theater which helped me make my movies. I could relate to the characters.”

3. The poetry of T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound and Dylan Thomas. “I enjoy poetry.”

4. Woody Allen by Eric Lax. “It’s an anecdotal account that gives me a peek into Allen’s development as an artist and a man while remaining consistently entertaining and enlightening.”

5. The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures by Donald Spoto. “Gives me insight into his process.”

6. Film Art: An Introduction, 7th International Edition. “The extraordinary amount of detail that has gone into this book covers every aspect of film production. They do a good job updating its content with every edition.”

7. Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. “I enjoyed the entire collection.”

8. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. “The favorite book of my youth. It appealed to my young self.”

9. Writing Great Screenplays for Film & TV by Dona Cooper. “This book is very helpful in understanding the form of writing screenplays for film and TV.”

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“The Reading Club” recommends The Cuckoo’s Calling by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. I love a good mystery novel. Available at National Bookstore and PowerBooks.

For your favorite magazines, call Emerald Headway. They have a Facebook page with their contact information.

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