Sarasota Film Festival – 2009
Herb & Dorothy
Sun, Mar 29, 1:00pm
Directed By: Megumi Sasaki
Producers: Megumi Sasaki, Karl Katz, Catherine Price, Takeshi Yamasaki
Cast: Herb and Dorothy Vogel
Two of the twentieth-centuries most notable collectors of contemporary art are a postal worker and a librarian named Herb and Dorothy Vogel. Together, the couple has amassed a collection of artwork so vast that it took an entire wing of the Smithsonian to house, and yet they had acquired every piece on their modest salaries, and magically fit the entire collection into their tiny Manhattan apartment. Award-winning documentary HERB AND DOROTHY tells the extraordinary story of an ordinary couple with a passion that drove them to be two of the most important characters in the history of minimalist and conceptual art.
I highly recommend this movie!
Christo & Jean-Claude
Mon, Mar 30, 7:00pm
Directed By: Michael Blackwood
Producers: Michael Blackwood
Cast: Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude met in Paris in 1958 and so began an extraordinary adventure in art, a series of spectacular public art works in many parts of the world that reached its climax in February, 2005 with the opening of The Gates in New York’s Central Park after more than 20 years of negotiation and struggle. In this portrait, the indefatigable duo reviews all their main projects since 1958 beginning with their small wrapped objects. Major emphasis is placed on their decades long effort to obtain permission for the Wrapped Reichstag project – a landmark event in the history of both art and politics.
I highly recommend this movie!
Examined Life
Tue, Mar 31, 8:15pm
Directed By: Astra Taylor
Producers: Ron Mann, Silva Basmajian, Bill Imperial, Lea Marin
Cast: Kwame Anthony Appiah, Judith Butler, Michael Hardt, Martha Nussbaum, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer Sunaura Taylor, Cornel West, Slavoj Zizek
How can philosophy answer the ethical concerns that dominate our times‾ The answer to that question is the subject of Astra Taylor’s thought-provoking EXAMINED LIFE. Interviewing some of the most profound thinkers of our times, Taylor explores a wide range of issues, from the ethics of consumption and ecology to the questioning of the limitations of the physical body in determining our identities. Engaging and accessible, EXAMINED LIFE raises delves into the role philosophy plays in our society while providing us intimate access to the thinkers at the cutting edge of our most pressing moral questions.
I highly recommend this movie! (this gets a wow)
Art & Copy
Sun, Apr 5, 3:30pm
Directed By: Doug Pray
Producers: Jimmy Greenway and Michael Nadeau
The twentieth century may be remembered as the age of the advertisement; with print, radio and television offering advertisers ever-expanding access to an eager public, the race was on to create the greatest exposure for an infinite array of products and services. ART AND COPY is Doug Pray’s illuminating look at the cream of the crop, the men and women responsible for some of the nation’s most famous images and slogans, the creative minds that grabbed headlines, made millions of dollars and bucked the traditions of Madison Avenue while transforming our cultural landscape.
I highly recommend this movie!
Letter to the President
Sun, Apr 5, 6:00pm
Directed By: Petr Lom
Producers: Petr Lom
Cast: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Each year, millions of Iranians send personal letters to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asking for everything from medical assistance to small business loans. Through the context of these letters, and with incredible access to the citizens who send them, Petr Lom (ON A TIGHTROPE, SFF 2007) explores the Iranian people’s relationship to populist leader Ahmadinejad, and their government as a whole. The result is an incredibly poignant and revealing impression of the new Iran, her people, and their dreams and struggles.
I highly recommend this movie!