Charlotte Zwerin: Some Remarkable Talents
June 6–12, 2003
MoMA presents the first New York retrospective
devoted to the leading American documentary filmmaker
Charlotte Zwerin, whose portraits of visual and performing
artists like Christo, Willem De Kooning, Ella Fitzgerald,
and Arshile Gorky are richly textured and revealing. The Detroit-born
Zwerin was early on inspired more by newsreels than theatrical
narratives. She established a film club at Wayne State, later worked
at CBS News, and then joined Drew Associates, the filmmaking group
that pioneered “direct cinema” in America. At Drew
she met David and Albert Maysles and began making documentaries
with them, including three significant films in this retrospective:
Salesman (1969), Gimme Shelter (1970), and Running
Fence (1978). Since then, Zwerin has also worked in the documentary
units of ABC and NBC, and has been a producer at PBS.
Organized by Laurence Kardish and Bruce Ricker,
independent distributor and programmer of jazz films.
The Department of Film and Media thanks Maysles Films,
Cort Productions, Direct Cinema, Alternate Current (Margaret
Smilow), and American Masters (Susan Lacy) for the loan of exhibition
copies, and Kate Hirson for her assistance.
. 1989. USA.
Directed by Charlotte Zwerin. With Harry Colomby, Thelonious
Monk, Jr., Nellie Monk. Blending never-released footage shot in 1968
with new interviews and photographs, Zwerin offers an
intimate look at the eccentric jazz genius. Courtesy Clint Eastwood.
90 min.
Zwerin discusses her work with Laurence Kardish and Bruce Ricker
and presents Tommy Flanagan, her work-in-progress, and
Toru Takemitsu: Music for the Movies.
. 1994. USA. Directed by Charlotte Zwerin.
With Nagisa Oshima, Donald Richie. A look at the composer of the scores
for Ran, Kwaidan, and other classics of Japanese cinema. Courtesy Alternate
Current. 58 min.
Program approx. 105 min.
. 1970. USA. Directed by David Maysles,
Albert Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin. Peter Schjeldahl wrote
in The New York Times that this “account of the Rolling Stones’s
1969 American tour, which ended in the ghastly debacle
of Altamont Free Festival, has been roughed by some critics…. Admittedly
a harrowing and depressing glimpse of the state of American rock
culture, this film is, not incidentally, a beautifully crafted, remarkably mature work of cinematic art.” Courtesy Maysles Films. 90 min.
. 1969. USA. Directed by Albert Maysles,
David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin. Filmed over two months,
Salesman depicts four real-life Boston-based representatives
of the American Bible Company. Vincent Canby wrote in The
New York Times that “it’s such a fine, pure picture of
American life that I can’t imagine it ever seeming
irrelevant either as a social document or as one of the
best examples of what’s called cinéma vérité….” Courtesy
Maysles Films. 90 min.
. 1999. USA.
Directed by Charlotte Zwerin. Narrated by Tony Bennett. With André Previn,
Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Shore. Originally shown
as part of PBS’s American
Masters series, this tuneful portrait traces the legendary
singer’s
career from her beginnings in 1934 through her rein as
the “Queen of Scat.” Digital
projection. 120 min.
. 1982. USA. Directed by Charlotte
Zwerin. With Agnes Fielding, Vartoosh Mooradin, Sidney
Janis, Elaine and Willem De Kooning. Courtesy Direct Cinema. 29 min.
. 1978. USA. Directed by David Maysles, Albert Maysles,
Charlotte Zwerin. With Christo, Jean-Claude. An exhilarating
journey of an art event from conception to realization.
Running Fence chronicles two artists working within a
skeptical larger community to achieve their vision: a 24-mile fabric
fence in the California hills. Courtesy Maysles Films.
58 min.
. 1981. USA. Directed
by Charlotte Zwerin. Willem and Elaine de Kooning discuss
the people, events, and ideas that shaped the painter’s
vision. The film includes images of De Kooning at work in his studio. Courtesy Direct Cinema. 58 min.
. 1995.
USA. Directed by Charlotte Zwerin. An examination of the sculptor’s
gardens, playgrounds, set designs, and other public spaces. 60
min.
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