Renowned film editor Melody London’s career began handsomely in collaboration with Jim Jarmusch on his early film Stranger Than Paradise (1984), which has since been selected into the United States National Film Registry as being ”culturally, historically or aesthetically relevant”. This led to London becoming Jarmusch’s longtime editor. This year’s festival screens Mystery Train (1989), which was their fourth collaboration.
London has since become a widely established professional. She’s taught film editing in prestigious institutions such as New York University and California Arts, and while she originally became known for her street-credible indie features, her repertoire also includes mainstream Hollywood films and noted documentaries. Among others, she’s edited Laurie Anderson’s documentary Heart of the Dog (2015) and Academy Award winner Laura Poitras’ documentary Risk (2016).
Kaisu Tervonen