| Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Tom Neff |
| Screenplay by | Tom Neff |
| Produced by | Olavee Martin Tom Neff Diandra Douglas Amie Knox |
| Starring | Beatrice Wood |
| Cinematography | Steven Wacks |
| Edited by | Barry Rubinow |
| Music by | John Rosasco |
| Distributed by | PBS |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 55 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500,000 |
Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada is a 1993 documentary film written and directed by Tom Neff about the avant-garde Dada artist Beatrice Wood. [1]
The documentary details the life and work of the artist Beatrice Wood, particularly her experiences as one of the members of the art movement known as Dada during the 1910s. It also recounts friendships with Marcel Duchamp and Henri-Pierre Roché whose book, and subsequent film Jules and Jim , was no doubt inspired by the relationship between the three of them, but actually based on a later relationship between Roché, Helen Grund and the German writer Franz Hessel.
Various art consultants, artists, and owners of art galleries who have exhibited Wood's art consulted on the film and were interviewed.
The film, shot in 16mm, premiered on March 3, 1993 at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles to coincide with Wood's 100th birthday. According to the Los Angeles Times , guests that celebrated Wood's birthday and viewed the film included Danny DeVito, Jack Nicholson, Michael Medavoy, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Tippi Hedren, Leonard Nimoy, Estelle Getty, Paula Prentiss, Deborah Raffin, and others. [2]
The documentary was broadcast on PBS on the American West Coast on October 1, 1993 and was shown in the Spring of 1994 on the East Coast.
When shown on PBS, the Los Angeles Times lauded the film and wrote, "Making a documentary about artist Beatrice Wood that is as full of life as its subject is probably impossible. But producer-director Tom Neff's energetic Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada, which airs at 10 tonight on KCET-TV Channel 28, comes as close as you could ask...Among the most compelling sequences are those that show Woods' autobiographical drawings and paintings. These colorful images are full of the same passion and sensuality that still emanates from the tiny, plucky sari-clad artist whom we now see opening up a freshly fired kiln full of pottery or chatting about the joys of men. If she were Japanese, as one of the interviewees in the film points out, Wood would have long ago been dubbed a living national treasure. As is, at least we've got the worthy tribute that is Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada by which to know this incredible woman." [3]
Variety film critic, Tony Scott, praised the production values of the film and wrote, "A loving look at a 100-year-old Ojai potter-painter should give plenty of hope to those whose lust for life may have faded, joy to those who enjoy a good companion. Sensitively filmed, handsomely lit and expertly edited, the ode to Beatrice Wood shimmers in beauty... Wood herself is a charming, industrious, disciplined, amusing and independent figure who's still living a full life. One of the speakers proclaims, 'Beatrice keeps a wonderful child alive in her.' The spec has been awarded the Cine Golden Eagle. Archival photos and paintings, historians and curators help fill out the picture, and John Rosasco has supplied a splendid score." [4]
Wins
Dada or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had spread to New York City and a variety of artistic centers in Europe and Asia.
In the arts and literature, the term avant-garde identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable to the artistic establishment of the time. The military metaphor of an advance guard identifies the artists and writers whose innovations in style, form, and subject-matter challenge the artistic and aesthetic validity of the established forms of art and the literary traditions of their time; thus, the artists who created the anti-novel and Surrealism were ahead of their times.
Beatrice Wood was an American artist and studio potter involved in the Dada movement in the United States; she founded and edited The Blind Man and Rongwrong magazines in New York City with French artist Marcel Duchamp and writer Henri-Pierre Roché in 1917. She had earlier studied art and theater in Paris, and was working in New York as an actress. She later worked at sculpture and pottery. Wood was characterized as the "Mama of Dada".
Henri-Pierre Roché was a French author who was involved with the artistic avant-garde in Paris and the Dada movement.
Walter Conrad Arensberg was an American art collector, critic and poet. His father was part owner and president of a crucible steel company. He majored in English and philosophy at Harvard University. With his wife Louise, he collected art and supported artistic endeavors.
Marc Levin is an American independent film producer and director. He is best known for his Brick City TV series, which won the 2010 Peabody award and was nominated for an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking and his dramatic feature film, Slam, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and the Caméra d'Or at Cannes in 1998. He also has received three Emmy Awards and the 1997 DuPont-Columbia Award.
John Everett DeCoste, known professionally as Terry Carter, was a pioneering black American actor and filmmaker, known for his roles as Sgt. Joe Broadhurst on the television series McCloud and as Colonel Tigh on the original Battlestar Galactica.
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Frederic Remington: The Truth of Other Days is a 1991 documentary film of American Western artist Frederic Remington made for the PBS series American Masters. It was produced and directed by Tom Neff and written by Neff and Louise LeQuire. Actor Gregory Peck narrated the film and Ned Beatty was the voice of Remington when reading his correspondence.
Thomas Linden Neff -, known as Tom Neff, is an American film executive, director and producer, born in Chicago, Illinois. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Vasco Alves Henriques Lucas Nunes was a Portuguese cinematographer, producer, and film director. In 2003, he graduated from the AFI Conservatory with a master's in cinematography, yet had begun working in the film and television industry in the early 1990s.
Red Grooms: Sunflower in a Hothouse is a 1986 short film biography of the Nashville-born artist Red Grooms. It was written by Tom Neff, co-directed by Neff and Louise LeQuire, and produced by Neff and Madeline Bell. The film was funded by the Tennessee State Museum and was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject.
Barry Rubinow is a film executive and editor, born in Glen Rock, New Jersey, a suburb of New York City. Currently, he lives in West Hills, Los Angeles, California.
The Living Century is an American biography television series that premiered on PBS on December 3, 2000. Each episode of the half-hour series documents the life of someone who is over 100 years old. The Living Century was produced and distributed by Reverie Productions.
Tami Kashia Gold is a documentary filmmaker, visual artist and educator. She is also a professor at Hunter College of the City University of New York in the Department of Film and Media Studies.
Marion "Muffie" Meyer is an American director, whose productions include documentaries, theatrical features, television series and children’s films. Films that she directed are the recipients of two Emmy Awards, CINE Golden Eagles, the Japan Prize, Christopher Awards, the Freddie Award, the Columbia-DuPont, and the Peabody Awards. Her work has been selected for festivals in Japan, Greece, London, Edinburgh, Cannes, Toronto, Chicago and New York, and she has been twice nominated by the Directors Guild of America.
Juliette Roche (1884–1980), also known as Juliette Roche Gleizes, was a French painter and writer who associated with members of the Cubist and Dada movements. She was married to the artist Albert Gleizes.
Phillip Rodriguez is an American documentary filmmaker and veteran content provider for PBS.
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