Robert Frank, 91, revolutionized the conventional character of photography and independent cinema. In 1955 he was the first European photographer to win a Guggenheim Foundation scholarship. He used the money to travel around the United States from 1955 to 1956, crossing 48 states and taking over 24,000 photographs. This experience became his masterpiece Les Américains, published in France in 1958, a book on American society after the war that would profoundly affect the photographic production of the next generation. In the film, Frank, who has rarely granted interviews, agreed to be shot by Laura Israel, his trusted collaborator and editor of his films, presenting honestly and descending into the depths of his most solitary and hidden being. The film tells of his life as an artist and, above all, as a man: his cinematic experiments with the documentary form, photo projects, and his private life, friendships and the dramatic loss of his daughter. The result is an extraordinary portrait, both poetic and rough, comparable to the work of one of the most celebrated photographers of our time.

 

Laura Israel worked as an editor of music videos and commercials for more than 25 years. After completing her film studies at the New York University, she established her own production company, "Assemblage". Her client portfolio includes: John Lurie, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Keith Richards, Sonic Youth, New Order, Ziggy Marley, David Byrne and artists Laurie Simmons and Robert Frank, with whom she edited and directed several films. Her first feature film, Windfall (2010) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010 and won top prize at the Doc New York (2010), this is why Israel was named in Filmmaker Magazine’s 2011 “25 New Faces of Independent Film”.


www.dontblinkrobertfrank.com