Alexander Payne grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He studied history and Spanish literature at Stanford University before earning an MFA in film at the University of California, Los Angeles. Payne has made eight feature films, including Election (1999), About Schmidt (2002), Sideways (2004), The Descendants (2011), and Nebraska (2013). His films have been nominated for a total of nineteen Academy Awards, including three times each for Best Picture and Best Director. He has won two Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay (for Sideways and The Descendants), and two of his films have won the Golden Globe for Best Picture (Sideways and About Schmidt). His most recent film, The Holdovers (2023), had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Winter 1970. Paul Hunham, a curmudgeonly history instructor at a prestigious US school, is forced to remain on campus during the Christmas break to babysit a handful of students who have nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with Angus, a damaged, brainy troublemaker, and with Mary, the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
Production Company Miramax, Gran Via
International Sales Company NBCUniversal