Darren Aronofsky, director of award winning films like Black Swan, The Wrestler, The Fountain, and Requiem for a Dream, remembers vividly the first time he saw a glacier. "I never knew ice could be blue." It was 1986, and he was a high schooler fresh from the pizza parlors and handball courts of urban Brooklyn, studying harbor seals in Alaska with SFS. It was a gratifying follow-up to the previous summer, when he had set out for Kenya with SFS to immerse himself in water strategies for ungulates (hoofed animals). "There are so many memories that have stuck with me. I draw from them all the time."
"It definitely gave me an incredible appreciation for the natural world, connected me for life to environmental issues, and gave me a real sensitivity to the planet. The School for Field Studies changed the way I perceived the world. Also, I learned about following the scientific method from hypothesis to conclusion, and that changed the way I work."
Darren went on to study live action and animation at Harvard University, and eventually received his M.F.A. in Directing from the American Film Institute in 1994. He made his directorial debut with the acclaimed independent feature Pi, which he also wrote. The film brought him several honors, including the Director's Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. His second film, Requiem for a Dream, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to earn five Independent Spirit Award nominations.
In 2007, Darren endowed a scholarship at SFS named for his third film, The Fountain. The scholarship benefits students who come from an urban area, have demonstrated a commitment to environmental issues, and have limited financial resources. In the same year, he also became a member of the SFS Board of Trustees.
"My two summers with The School for Field Studies completely changed my life. There were so many amazing individual experiences that had a huge impact on me, and it’s easy for me to draw from them. In The Fountain, there’s a deep ecological message. It’s about recycling and how people and their environment change and go and come back. This view comes from my experience in the field."
"As a board member at SFS, I’d like us to figure out how to make the entire organization sustainable. I’d also like to see us expand in size and get as many students as possible to have this unique experience."
Darren's film accomplishments have continued with his latest films, The Wrestler and Black Swan. The Wrestler won a Gold Lion at the Venice Film festival and tells the dark tale of a professional wrester played by Mickey Rourke, who won a Golden Globe for his performance. For the equally tenebrous Black Swan, Darren was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director, and actress Natalie Portman brought home the Oscar and Golden Globe.
