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this documentary is a revealing look at the process of art and family dynamics, it is really about the photographer Francesca Woodman, an intense and driven artist who ended her life at the age of 22 in 1981. She was full of radical ideas and ready for recognition but when it didn’t come quickly she couldn’t cope.
Her parents describe their early marriage and fairly conventional life in Colorado as well as Francesca’s early years and how she took up photography in her teens. She put together a compelling body of work early on, with an amazing eye and very new ideas. Her work is full of deep haunting images, many of them using her own naked body, blurring and motion and the use of other photographs within the images. Filmmaker C. Scott Willis presents this sad story in a beautiful fashion, using the stills and Francesca's films to perfection. It absolutely made me go out and find more of her work.
Besides being the portrait of an artist, The Woodmans is also a story about grief and how parents deal with loss. Mom Betty threw herself into her own ceramic art and has become very successful. Dad George has had less recognition and it is rather pathetic to see him take up photography, where his attempts are poor copies of what Francesca did decades earlier.
SCREENINGS:
- Thu, Sep 30th 9:00pm Vancity Theatre
- Sat, Oct 9th 12:20pm Empire Granville 7 Th 1
- Sun, Oct 10th 6:00pm Empire Granville 7 Th 1