David Holzman's Diary. 1967. United States. Written and directed by Jim McBride. With Eileen Dietz, Kit Carson. DCP. 74 min.
"Adrienne Mancia was instrumental in the creation of the Cineprobe series at MoMA in 1968, a forum for experimental and independent filmmakers to show their films and interact with the audience in Q&A sessions. The films presented ranged from mesmerizing abstract movies by experimental filmmakers to the artful independent gay sexploitation films of Fred Halstead. The first film shown in this series was David Holzman’s Diary, by first-time director Jim McBride (Breathless, The Big Easy, Great Balls of Fire!). This ostensible documentary stars an aspiring filmmaker named David, who lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. With his 16mm camera in tow, he creates a film diary in his apartment and on the city streets. Only during the film’s credits is it revealed that an actor (L. M. Kit Carson) plays David, the film’s cinematography is by Michael Wadleigh (Woodstock), and McBride is the director. David Holzman’s Diary is a deft hybrid of documentary and fiction, and one of the most inventive movies about the act of filmmaking.
As evidence of Adrienne Mancia’s close professional and personal relationship with film directors worldwide, McBride would later cast Adrienne as the mother in his 1974 sex comedy A Hard Day for Archie, loosely based on the Archie comic book series." - Jon Gartenberg