One of our favorite new films of 2017 was Jane, by Brett Morgen. We had the pleasure of screening the film in New York at DocNYC and Amsterdam at IDFA, where we also held a talk with Brett about his work on the film. (more…)
The Right Footage
Archives and the Future of Documentary: Industry Insight from DocNYC
From November 9th to 16th this year, the documentary industry converged on New York City for DocNYC, a festival dedicated to the documentary craft that the Wall Street Journal has recently called “an essential summit for all kinds of documentary filmmaking.” The Archive Valley team went to New York to meet with filmmakers – from documentary veterans to up-and-coming talent – and to take the pulse of the industry. This year’s edition and industry program was a great opportunity for discussion around archive-driven films, which featured prominently in the the past few editions. (more…)
Archives and Cinema: Jerry Lewis’s Forgotten Film “The Day the Clown Cried”
Legendary comedian Jerry Lewis, famous for roles in early color comedies such as The Nutty Professor and The Bellboy passed away August 20, 2017 at the age of 91. While well-known for his slap-stick style of Comedy and upbeat, larger-than-life persona, many are unfamiliar with Lewis’ involvement in an unreleased motion picture which he both directed and starred in. While known by an auteur by many, portraying complete control over the many collaborative projects he signed his name onto, this is one aspect of Lewis’ career that remains a mystery to many. (more…)
Rare Archives Bring Ferrari Film to Life
“The Universal documentary feature ‘Ferrari: Race To Immortality‘ revolves around five Formula 1 drivers of the late 1950s (Eugenio Castellotti, the Marquis Alfonso de Portago, Luigi Musso, Peter Collins and Mike Hawthorn) who all, extraordinarily, died tragically within just twenty-two months of each other,” archive researcher Richard Wiseman says. “Four of the five died at the steering-wheel of a Ferrari, whilst the fifth was killed on the public road, having just won a World Championship for the Scuderia. Individually and collectively, their life-stories are overwhelmingly unknown to 21st century audiences, and one of the reasons for this is that very little footage of them on film was thought to exist.” (more…)
A “Long Strange Trip” with Archival Producers Annie Salsich & Jim McDonnell
Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia recording an early album in 1966. Photo courtesy of Roberto Rabanne.
The summer of 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of “The Summer of Love,” when over 100,000 people, largely consisting of post-beat-generation youth who came to be known as “hippies,” converged on San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood. The summer came to be defined by experimental rhetoric against the government, experimental drugs consumed by fans and musicians alike, and experimental music, performed at festivals like the now-legendary Monterey Pop Festival by groups like The Who, The Grateful Dead, The Animals, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix. The 50th Anniversary of the Summer of Love also coincides with the Anniversary of the Grateful Dead’s exponential rise to fame, as masterfully portrayed in Amir Bar-Lev’s six-part documentary on the band, “Long Strange Trip,” executive produced by Martin Scorsese and released in January 2017. (more…)