Before The Sartorialist, Tommy Ton, Street Pepper and all the others there was Bill Cunningham, who basically invented the form of observational fashion journalism that we see so much of today. Any time you see Bill in his bright blue jacket you know you are at a good party. “We all get dressed for Bill,” says Vogue’s Anna Wintour.

Bill Cunningham New York is an 88-minute documentary on streetstyle pioneer and 81-year-old New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham is set to hit the theaters on March 16. The trailer is a must-watch.

This paragraph, from the film’s website, pretty much sums it all up:
For decades, this Schwinn-riding cultural anthropologist has been obsessively and inventively chronicling fashion trends and high society charity soirées for the Times Style section in his columns “On the Street” and “Evening Hours.” Documenting uptown fixtures (Wintour, Tom Wolfe, Brooke Astor, David Rockefeller—who all appear in the film out of their love for Bill), downtown eccentrics and everyone in between, Cunningham’s enormous body of work is more reliable than any catwalk as an expression of time, place and individual flair. In turn, Bill Cunningham New York is a delicate, funny and often poignant portrait of a dedicated artist whose only wealth is his own humanity and unassuming grace.

Om ni inte har sett When You’re Strange, Tom DiCillos dokumentär om The Doors, så tycker jag ni bör göra det. Alla klipp är originalfilm, inga skådespelare eller look-alikes har använts, vilket verkar helt otroligt när man ser filmen. Den känns verkligen som en välregisserad berättelse. Johnny Depp, filmens berättarröst, sa så här: “Watching the hypnotic, hitherto unreleased footage of Jim, John, Ray and Robby, I felt like I experienced it all through their eyes. As a rock n’ roll documentary, or any kind of documentary for that matter, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. What an honor to have been involved. I am as proud of this as anything I have ever done.” Håller med Johnny där.

TRANSLATION:
If you haven’t seen When You’re Strange, Tom DiCillos documentary about The Doors, I think you should. The film consists entirely of original footage, no actors or lookalikes have been used, which seems pretty amazing when you watch it. It really feels like a well-directed story. Johnny Depp, who narrates the film, said this: “Watching the hypnotic, hitherto unreleased footage of Jim, John, Ray and Robby, I felt like I experienced it all through their eyes. As a rock n’ roll documentary, or any kind of documentary for that matter, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. What an honor to have been involved. I am as proud of this as anything I have ever done.” I’m with Johnny.

Efter filmen var det paneldiskussion med Denis Hayes som grundade Earth Day (den största massprotesten som någonsin hållits i detta land — organiserad enbart genom brevskrivande och några telefonsamtal) för 40 år sedan, regissören Robert Stone och Times-journalisten Michael D. Lemonick. Väldigt intressant att få insikt från de som har varit med ett tag. Man kan ju bli lite blåögd ibland och tänka att vi är det första generationen som försökt åstadkomma ändring vad gäller miljöfrågor, men så är det ju självfallet inte. Berömda filmregissören Spike Lee var en av de ca 25 personer på plats i salongen. Se hela filmen på nätet.

TRANSLATION
I just went to a press-screening of Earth Days, a documentary about the history of the environmental movement in the U.S. It’s incredible how the future-optimism and rebel-spirit of the 60s and 70s turned into apathy and egotism in the 80s and 90s. From free love, demonstrations and communal living to Wall Street, jealousy and capitalism. Popular movements are, largely, the only way we have ever been able to accomplish large societal changes. In Sweden, we have become a bit used to everything being taken care of by the government, so that we don’t have to take to the streets and protest. Here in the U.S. it’s a bit different, most people have very little trust in the government (which has improved a bit since Obama won the Presidency, but still), so we have to take it upon ourselves to learn about important issues and fight for what we believe in.

After the movie there was a panel discussion with Denis Hayes, who founded Earth Day (the largest mass-protest ever held in this country — organized almost completely by writing letters and making a few phone calls) 40 years ago, director Robert Stone and Times journalist Michael D. Lemonick. It was very interesting to get some insight from those who have been there a while. It’s easy to become a bit naïve sometimes and think that we are the first generation who has tried to push for environmental policy change, but that’s of course not the case. Renowned film director Spike Lee was one of the 25 or so people in the audience. Watch the whole film online.