The collaborative film by Gus Van Sant (American, b. 1952) and James Franco (American, b. 1978), My Own Private River, is comprised of unused footage and dailies from Van Sant's 1991 film My Own Private Idaho, starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. My Own Private River focuses on the character Mike, played by Phoenix. The film is more observational and less linear than its original iteration, creating a dreamlike, more associative sensibility.
Additional films that inform the discourse of Summer School 2011 will also be on view, including Satantango (1994) and Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) by Bêla Tarr, Jeanne Dielman (1975) by Chantal Akerman, Stroszek (1977) by Werner Herzog, and other films by Gus Van Sant.
My Own Private River is made possible by the Annual Exhibition Fund with support from Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, Richard Chang and Tina Lee, Adam Kimmel, Peter Norton and the Peter Norton Family Foundation, Beth Swofford, David Teiger, Agnes Gund, Dana Farouki, Sydie Lansing, John Comfort, Philip E. Aarons and Shelley Fox Aarons, Mimi Haas, and Enzo Viscusi, with additional funding from The Director's Circle of MoMA PS1, The Contemporary Circle of MoMA PS1, and Byron R. Meyer.
