Broadcast News. I probably learned more about "adult life" from this film than any other I saw in my childhood (though I don't think it all seemed accurate or applicable once I arrived in adulthood). I love it dearly Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive
Hohokam. Frank Ross's microbudget indie has hardly been seen by anyone in the US, let alone outside of it, but to my eyes it sets the bar for intimate, surprising work in our current era of filmmaking Photograph: PR
Rocky II. I realize this may seem a stretch, as indeed will probably most of the films I mention here (Beeswax is probably not a very good relative and doesn't keep in close touch with its kin). But Rocky II was the only film that our cast and crew watched together before our shoot - its warmth and generosity of spirit was an inspiration. And now that I think about it, the story, in which a protagonist seeks support from different kinds of "family" (Adrian, Mickey), while anticipating a confrontation with a largely offscreen antagonist, is not at all unlike Beeswax's … Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive
Superfly. Another stretch. But when I saw this film for the first time I was amazed at how much it was just about the life and struggles of a businessman trying to get by in a tough market. "My God," I thought to myself, "This movie is about my father." Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. No film genre is more philosophical than the Western. They're always about justice: its value, its limitations, its frequent absence. The contrast between John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, two iconic performers who barely belong in the same universe, drives the film and it's entirely fascinating Photograph: The Ronald Grant Archive
