This retrospective salute to Julia Reichert, organized by the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University, celebrates one of the most distinguished bodies of work in American independent film and one of our most accomplished documentarians. A three-time Academy Award nominee, Reichert has dedicated her career to capturing stories that explore class, gender, and race in America.
Beginning with her debut, Growing Up Female (made with Jim Klein in 1971), considered the first feature documentary of the modern women’s movement—and a recent addition to the National Film Registry—the series showcases all of Reichert’s feature documentaries. These include Union Maids (1976) and Seeing Red (1984) (also with Klein), both Oscar nominees for Best Feature Documentary; the landmark four-hour A Lion in the House (2006), made with Steven Bognar, which won an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking; and Reichert and Bognar’s latest film, American Factory, which received the Best Directing Award for US Documentary at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
Following its premiere at The Museum of Modern Art, the series will travel to the Wexner Center for the Arts, the Cleveland Cinematheque, the Speed Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the AFI Silver Theatre, among others.
Special thanks to Chicken & Egg Pictures Breakthrough Filmmaker Award (now Chicken & Egg Award).
Organized by Dave Filipi, Director, Film/Video, Wexner Center for the Arts, with Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, Olivia Priedite, Assistant, and Carson Parish, Theater Manager, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art.
The exhibition is made possible by The Thomas H. Lee and Ann Tenenbaum Endowed Fund.
Additional support is provided by the Annual Film Fund. Leadership support for the Annual Film Fund is provided by the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation and Steven Tisch, with major contributions from Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), Yuval Brisker Charitable Foundation, The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston, Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin, Karen and Gary Winnick, and The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art.