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Charlotte Zwerin[edit]
Charlotte Zwerin (born Charlotte Mitchell) was an American documentary film director and editor known for her work concerning artists and musicians. However, she is most known for her editing contributions to the direct cinema and cinéma vérité documentaries, Salesman (1969), Gimme Shelter (1970) and Running Fence (1978) in which she was given co-director credits along with two cinéma vérité pioneers, Albert and David Maysles.[1][2]
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Biography[edit]
Charlotte Zwerin was born on August 15, 1931 and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She studied at Wayne State University and established a film club there which sparked her interest in documentary filmmaking.[3] After this, she moved to New York City and found a job with Drew Associates who were the pioneers of direct cinema in the United States.[4] Here, she met and began to work with Albert and David Maysles.[4] Zwerin would go on to edit and co-direct two of the canonical cinéma vérité documentaries with the Maysles brothers: Salesman and Gimme Shelter.[5] Zwerin died of lung cancer in January 2004, at the age of 72.[6]
Career[edit]
Charlotte Zwerin was an editor who worked on some of the most significant films of the cinéma vérité mode of documentary practice including, Salesman and Gimme Shelter. Salesman is concerned with following door-to-door Bible salesmen as they attempt to sell the greatest “best seller in the world.” Interestingly, at first, most viewers are appalled at the Bible-hustling, but soon begin to feel sympathy for these salesmen, particularly for one: Paul, who is the least successful salesman.[7] Gimme Shelter monitors the tremendously famous London rock band, The Rolling Stones, during their 1969 tour which culminated in the deadly Altamont Free Concert. The film has gained a great deal of both notoriety and infamy for portraying a stabbing which resulted in a man's death at the hands of the Hell's Angels, who were working as security for the concert.[8]
As well, Zwerin directed several other documentaries with subjects such as Thelonious Monk, "the brilliant and eccentric jazz pianist", the Armenian abstract painter Arshile Gorky, and the magnificent Ella Fitzgerald, among many others.[9]
Direct Cinema vs. Cinéma Vérité[edit]
Charlotte Zwerin's work is often described as following the French documentary style of representation known as cinéma vérité. However, at the same time, some claim that her work is emblematic of the direct cinema style, in that Salesman is described as a "direct cinema documentary film".[10] Yet, there are several differences between the two modes of documentary practice. Direct cinema is the approach to documentary film that follows an observational quality. Filmmakers chose to observe lived experiences as they unfolded, unobtrusively, in order to depict a sense of realism. They were to have no intervention on the filming which resulted in their movement being aptly titled "Fly on the wall."[11] However, there exists a paradox in this definition of direct cinema since the very presence of filmmakers and their equipment would surely influence the subjects being filmed as well as the realism the filmmakers sought to capture.[12] On the other hand, cinéma vérité sought for realism through an entirely different method. For cinéma vérité filmmakers truth will be revealed as it is provoked by the very act of filming, entirely different from direct cinema filmmakers who aspired for invisibility.[13]
Filmography[6][edit]
Salesman (1969)
Gimme Shelter (1970)
Running Fence (1978)
De Kooning on de Kooning (1981)
Islands (1987)
Horowitz Plays Mozart (1987)
Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser (1989)
Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu (1994)
Sculpture of Spaces: Noguchi (1995)
Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For (1999)
References[edit]
- ^ Barnouw, Eric (1993). Documentary: A History of Non-Fiction Film. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 241.
- ^ Nichols, Bill (2010). Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 33.
- ^ Jenkins, Todd (2004). "Documentary Filmmaker (Monk, Ella, Stones, Frost)". Jazz House. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
- ^ a b "Charlotte Zwerin: Some Remarkable Talents | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
- ^ Nichols, Bill (2010). Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 133.
- ^ a b White, Tom (May 2004). "Charlotte Zwerin: 1931-2004". International Documentary Association. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
- ^ Barnouw, Eric (1993). Documentary: A History of Non-Fiction Film. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 244.
- ^ Nichols, Bill (2010). Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 173.
- ^ Martin, Douglas (January 27, 2004). "Charlotte Zwerin, 72, Maker of Documentaries on Artists". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
- ^ "Salesman (film)". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- ^ Nichols, Bill (2010). Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 172.
- ^ "Direct Cinema". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
- ^ Barnouw, Eric (1993). Documentary: A History of Non-Fiction Film. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 254.