FilmNewYork's blog

Monday, July 30----------A true film pioneer, documentarian DA Pennebaker is considered one of the finest filmmakers working today, in any film genre. At age 82, he is still highly prolific, creating new and challenging works that continue to enrage and inspire his legion of admirers. The documentary devotees will assemble this Wednesday at the IFC Center for AN EVENING WITH DA PENNEBAKER, part of the FILM DIALOGUES series sponsored by Filmmaker Magazine.

Donn Alan "D. A." Pennebaker was born on July 15, 1925 in Evanston, Illinois. In the early 1960s, Pennebaker (known as "Penny" to his friends), together with Richard Leacock and Robert Drew, founded Drew Associates, which produced films in a new style called "direct cinema" or "cinema verite", which purported to be an undiluted presentation of the truth, without artistic interference of the filmmaker. The Drew Associates team, which also included Albert Maysles and other pioneers, produced such seminal documentaries as PRIMARY (1960) and CRISIS (1963), among the first documentaries to use modern free-moving sound-sync cameras.

In 1963, Leacock and Pennebaker left to found their own production firm. Both became leaders of the direct cinema movement, an attempt to capture "real life", by using unobtrusive cameras and available light. Pennebaker does not direct his subjects or interview them – he simply follows them and records their world. That has worked especially well with a series of music documentaries that he famously produced, including DON'T LOOK BACK (1967), chronicling the concert tour of troubadour Bob Dylan, MONTEREY POP (1968), the seminal folk/rock music event of the 1960s, as well as more recent music films including ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS (1983) and DEPECHE MODE 101 (1989).

While perhaps best known for these music documentaries, Pennebaker has also had a keen interest in dissecting the political process. Working with his wife Chris Hegedus, he has produced such landmark films as WAR ROOM (1993), a fascinating presentation of the behind-the-scenes behind Bill Clinton's first campaign for the Presidency; STARTUP.COM (2001), an eye-opening look at the millenium tech boom and bust; THE FIRST AMENDMENT PROJECT (2004), a critical expose of the loss of rights of privacy committed by the Bush Administration under the fog of war following the attacks of 9-11; and AL FRANKEN: GOD SPOKE (2006), a portrait of the television and radio satirist's campaign to debunk the religious right wing.

The evening on Wednesday will also include the New York Premiere of 65 REVISITED, an update of his landmark musical documentary DON'T LOOK BACK. Forty years after first creating that seminal film, Pennebaker went back into his vaults and, from more than 20 hours of unseen footage, cut together a new version of the same historic Bob Dylan tour of the UK as in the earlier film. However, 65 REVISITED is subtly and profoundly different in attitude, style and effect from its predecessor. As an added bonus, Pennebaker will be bringing some surprise clips, including rare, unseen footage from the era. Fascinating stuff.

Sandy Mandelberger, Film New York Editor

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