MUST-SEE CINEMA: Kim Longinotto Retrospective At MoMA
Kim Longinotto is England’s answer to Frederick Wiseman. While I confess to having seen only five of Longinetto’s films—I know, shame on me—with MoMA’s yummy retrospective devoted to her incredibly warm, inquisitive, and humane body of work, we lucky New Yorkers finally get a chance to play catch-all-the-way-up.
Last night brought the only screening of Longinotto’s latest, the crushingly devastating yet deeply inspiring Rough Aunties. But fear not. If you haven’t seen any of Longinotto’s other films, this weekend is a great place to start, as she will be in attendance to discuss her work after the films. Tonight Longinotto will be in attendance to present 1998’s Divorce Iranian Style, which chronicles Iran’s incomprehensibly twisted system when it comes to the notion of divorce, specifically with regards to a woman’s say in the matter (as in: she has none).
Saturday afternoon brings a double-feature of early films, Pride of Place and Theatre Girls (which is like Titicut Follies meets Grey Gardens soaked in a big, wet bottle of booze). But Saturday night is when things really take off, with 2007’s Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go (in keeping with the cheesy ‘this meets that’ game, this one is best described as Nil By Mouth meets To Be And To Have). Longinotto, who will be there to discuss this film as well, takes her camera inside Oxfordshire’s Mulberry Bush School to watch a group of incredibly brave and strong individuals care for children who have suffered through massive emotional trauma. As with most of Loninotto’s work, this isn’t always easy viewing, but her unobtrusive yet sympathetic eye results in a work that makes us feel all the richer for having experienced it.
Sunday, Longinotto will also be in attendance for 2005’s Sisters in Law, another striking profile of courageous women. After over a decade in which no spousal abuse cases have actually rendered a guilty verdict, a prosecutor and judge see to it that this travesty comes to an end. Though the subject matter is heavy, these women burst forth with a vitality and sense of humor that keeps one smiling throughout. Sisters in Law is another definite keeper.
The retrospective runs through Saturday, May 23rd, with multiple screenings, so be sure to visit the calendar by clicking the link above and soak in as much of Longinotto’s wonderful cinema as you can.
***Also, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Longinotto last night, a conversation that I will be posting at Hammer to Nail on Tuesday. After being with her for only four seconds, I understood immediately how and why she has managed to produce such a thoughtful, engaged body of work. The fact that she said I reminded her of that Adam Lambert clown on American Idol didn’t even sour my thoughts about her.***
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