[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]
Albert Maysles
Stepping into the vault during the Festival’s 29th edition in 2012, a retrospective screening of Islands on 16mm was held at Coral Gables Art Cinema—offering a fascinating time capsule of Miami during a time of transition. The 1986 film, by legendary documentarian filmmakers, the Maysles brothers, and editor Charlotte Zwerin, followed artists Christo and Jean-Claude behind the scenes as they overcame local resistance to realize their “Surrounded Islands” dream—a grandiose project that surrounded eleven of the spoil islands situated in Miami’s Biscayne Bay in 1983 with 6.5 million square feet of floating pink woven polypropylene fabric.
[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]
Former Miami-Dade County commissioner Ruth Shack recalls her memories of Christo project at Coral Gables Art Cinema (2012), “Surrounded Islands” in Miami’s Biscayne Bay
The Maysles brothers, Albert (1026–2015) and David (1931–1987) are recognized as pioneers of “direct cinema,” the distinctly American version of French “cinema vérité.” Albert Maysles, known for his “fly on the wall” type of filmmaking, created groundbreaking films, for more than five decades—placing his fate and faith in reality, the provider of subjects, themes, and experiences—all endowed with the power of truth and the romance of discovery. Just days before his final film, Iris, [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][view trailer] screened at the Festival’s 32nd edition this past March, Albert passed on following a brief battle with cancer.
Iris Apfel; Q&A at O Cinema Miami Beach
In Iris, Albert Maysles trails nonagenarian fashion icon Iris Apfel—hired by nine presidents for White House restorations—brilliantly capturing decades of wisdom by the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed style maven. Albert’s characteristic panache gives the film such an extraordinary sense of surrealism, it feels as if Iris’ larger than life personality could only exist within the realm of a film. In the documentary feature, we see Apfel mingle with Bruce Weber, Jenna Lyons, and Kanye West, while behind the closed doors of her Park Avenue apartment she quietly grapples with old age. “Fashion, she says, never keeps her up at night. Matters of health and things like that [do].”
In the current issue of Allure magazine, Apfel shares her secret to aging gracefully: “Don’t show your décolletage or wear low backs or spike heels that you can’t balance on. If you’re 80, I don’t care what you do with yourself, you’re never going to look 20. Worrying about getting old is the kiss of death; you have to be busy and stay engaged. You cannot be interesting if you’re not interested.” Iris opens in Miami on Friday, May 8 at MDC’s Tower Theater and O Cinema Wynwood. —Tatyana Chiocchetti[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
