Paul Schrader

Writer/director Paul Schrader considers his new film his first spiritual film. Ethan Hawke stars as a pastor having a crisis of faith, and sinking into despair.

Writer and director Paul Schrader directed the new film Autofocus, about the life of actor Bob Crane. Schrader wrote the screenplays for a number of classic films, including Taxi Driver and Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese directed). Films he directed include Affliction, The Comfort of Strangers and American Gigolo.

Part 2 of the Fresh Air interview with screenwriter and director Paul Scrader. Schrader grew up in a Calvinist home and was forbidden from seeing movies as a child; he learned about cinema watching art films in college. He wanted to be a minister, and later channeled his preoccupation with morality and guilt into his screenplays.