THE ART OF OBSERVING LIFE: conversations with documentary filmmakers

THE ART OF OBSERVING LIFE: conversations with documentary filmmakers

    Price: $350.00

    Code: 2478

    Directed by Marina Goldovskaya
    2014, 71 Minutes
    Purchase: $350 | Classroom Rental: $125


    In the wonderful Art of Observing Life, renowned documentarian Marina Goldovskaya provides a master class in cinema verite and an appreciation of the filmmakers who transformed the Documentary.

    Featuring generous clips from many of the most important and memorable documentary works, the film includes intimate conversations with Robert Drew (Primary), Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room, Monterey Pop, Don't Look Back,), Allan King (A Married Couple, Warrendale), Richard Leacock (Primary, Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment), Albert Maysles (Salesman, Grey Gardens), Jonas Mekas (Walden, Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania), Lionel Rogosin (On The Bowery) and others.

    Filmed mostly in Goldovskaya's home in Los Angeles over an extended period of time, these conversations carry a loose and convivial tone. A fellow filmmaker and close friend, Goldovskaya poses straightforward questions and allows these legendary directors to talk freely about their work. They open up about the struggles and excitement of their early years, the making of some of their landmark films, their strategies and approaches to filmmaking and their philosophies to capturing life on screen. It is at once an homage to documentary filmmaking, a rare personal look at its luminaries, and a precious gift for students and lovers of documentary film.




    Official Selection, International Film Festival Amsterdam

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    Reviews

    " Recommended. Goldovskaya elicits many insightful comments on the struggles and triumphs of documentary filmmaking. One gets a good sense of what it takes to build trust with a subject before the camera rolls. Should be available in any collection with strength in documentary film." - Educational Media Reviews Online

    "An important film. This film would be of benefit to filmmaking classes, especially those associated with the methods of visual storytelling." - Anthropology Review Database

       "Recommended.The subjects offer lots of words of wisdom about filmmaking, especially for those interested in direct cinema." - Video Librarian

    "Students of documentary film will delight in this treasure trove and the feeling of being invited into the homes of their favorite directors. This is made even more poignant by the end-title revelation that many of Goldovskaya’s subjects have died since being filmed."-Library Journal