Oliver Stone, one of Hollywood's most controversial and celebrated filmmakers, will give an address on the Cornell campus Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall. His lecture is titled "Making Movies Matter." Tickets for Stone's lecture are on sale at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office. Tickets are $6 for Cornell students and $8 for all others.

Stone will discuss his background and explain how and why he chooses to direct certain films, said Sue Heter '00, chair of the Cornell University Program Board, the sponsor of the event. Stone also will offer his opinions on the media and the role he believes the media should play in today's society.

"The CUPB chose [Stone] because he is active in so many political and social issues affecting our society," said Dana Kuchem '99, selection director of the CUPB. "We thought the Cornell community would be particularly interested to hear his point of view."

Kuchem said Stone's lecture also will include his thoughts on U-Turn, his latest film. U-Turn, an adaptation of the book Stray Dogs, is a satire on violence and is expected to be in theaters later this month.

Stone is perhaps best known for his controversial films addressing fundamental questions about American politics, history and society.

"What makes [Stone] such a unique filmmaker is that his films pose provocative questions about how history is treated in today's society," said Mary Fessenden, director of Cornell Cinema.

Stone established himself as a filmmaker who deals with such issues with his Vietnam films Born on the Fourth of July and Platoon. In his lecture, Stone is expected to speak about his time teaching and later fighting in Vietnam, and how these experiences affected the directing of those films. His other controversial films include Wall Street, JFK, Natural Born Killers and Nixon.

EDITORS: Contact Dana Kuchem at the Cornell University Program Board, 255-7132, for information on tickets and media coverage.

Stone's film career began in 1973 when he worked on the horror film Seizure. In his early years in the industry, he concentrated primarily on screen writing. In 1976 he won his first Academy Award, Best Adapted Screenplay, for the film Midnight Express. He also wrote the screenplay for Platoon in 1976, but it wasn't released as a film until 10 years later.