Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Lauren Greenfield
Lauren Greenfield explores society’s preoccupation with materialism through a review of her photographic and film oeuvre.
Festival Section:
Documentary Premieres
Sundance Program Description:
Over the past 25 years, Lauren Greenfield’s documentary photography and film projects have explored youth culture, gender, body image, and affluence. In this fascinating meld of career retrospective and film essay, Greenfield offers a meditation on her extensive body of work, structuring it through the lens of materialism and its increasing sway on culture and society in America and throughout the world. Underscoring the ever-increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots, her portraits reveal a focus on cultivating image over substance, where subjects unable to attain actual wealth instead settle for its trappings, no matter their ability to pay for it.
From her earliest photo studies on the seemingly privileged lives of Los Angeles high school students, through her look at the pitfalls of extreme wealth in THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES (US Documentary Directing Award, 2012 Sundance Film Festival), to more recent images of conspicuous consumption in Russia and China, Greenfield’s work becomes a cautionary morality tale about our unquenchable desire for more.
Some Background:
Director/Producer:
Past Sundance docs:
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES
KIDS + MONEY (short) (2008)
THIN (2006)
As demonstrated in her latest film, the Emmy-winning Greenfield established herself as an acclaimed documentary photographer before also pursuing documentary film projects. Her photographs have become part of the collections of notable institutions like LACMA, SFMOMA, the Smithsonian, the ICA, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the J Paul Getty Museum.
Producers:
Past Sundance docs:
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES (executive producer)
KIDS + MONEY (executive producer)
Evers, Greenfield’s husband, is the founder and owner of INSTITUTE for Artist Management and of Evergreen Pictures.
Philanthropist Annenberg is the president and chair of the Annenberg Foundation. She is also on the board of trustees for both LACMA and MOCA. This marks her first producing credit.
Consulting Producers:
Past Sundance docs:
KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK (2015)
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES
Superlative Films’ Renfrew Behrens also produced 2018 Sundance Next narrative NIGHT COMES ON, previously produced Sundance fiction alums COLUMBUS (2017), AMERICAN SON (2008), NOVEMBER (2004), and GROOVE (2000), and executive produced GRANDMA (2015) and WAITRESS (2007).
Past Sundance docs:
LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM (2014)
THE FENCE (2010)
McAlester received Oscar and Emmy nominations for LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM, and most recently was a producer on SundanceTV’s COLD BLOODED: THE CLUTTER FAMILY MURDERS.
Associate Producer:
Oberly is a documentary journalist who worked as a researcher, photo assistant, and producer for Greenfield, contributing to her feature and short doc projects. In addition, she was part of the camera crew for fellow 2018 Doc Premieres title ROBIN WILLIAMS: COME INSIDE MY MIND.
Executive Producers:
Past recent Sundance docs:
STEP (2017)
UNREST (2017)
DOLORES (2017)
NEWTOWN (2016)
MAYA ANGELOU: AND STILL I RISE (2016)
RESILIENCE (2016)
UNDER THE GUN (2016)
THE EAGLE HUNTRESS (2016)
The Artemis Rising Foundation philanthropist is also an executive producer for fellow 2018 Documentary Premieres title WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, US Documentary Competition title BISBEE ’17, and Next documentary 306 HOLLYWOOD, and a producer for US Dramatic Competition title THE TALE.
Combined past Sundance docs:
TROPHY (2017)
PRIVATE VIOLENCE (2014)
WHO IS DAYANI CRISTAL? (2013)
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES
SMASH HIS CAMERA (2010, Tarrant)
GOD GREW TIRED OF US (2006, Tarrant)
Candescent Films supports projects that illuminate social issues.
Recent past Sundance docs:
BENDING THE ARC (2017)
STEP (2017)
PROPHET’S PREY (2015)
THE MASK YOU LIVE IN (2015)
IN FOOTBALL WE TRUST (2015)
DREAMCATCHER (2015)
HOT GIRLS WANTED (2015)
THE HUNTING GROUND (2015)
Co-Founder of both Impact Partners and Gamechanger Films, Dreyfous also executive produced 2018 World Cinema Doc Competition titles OUR NEW PRESIDENT and OF FATHERS AND SONS, Premieres title THE LONG DUMB ROAD, 306 HOLLYWOOD, BISBEE ’17, THE TALE, WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, and co-executive produced US Dramatic Competition title NANCY.
Editors:
Past Sundance docs:
BEST OF ENEMIES (2015)
THE INTERRUPTERS (2011)
REEL PARADISE (2005, associate producer/additional editor)
Wickenden also cut 2018 title WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?.
Past Sundance docs:
AUTHOR: THE JT LEROY STORY (2016)
THE INTERNET’S OWN BOY: THE STORY OF AARON SWARTZ (2014)
Past Sundance docs:
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES
CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL (2011)
SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS (2005)
BUKOWSKI: BORN INTO THIS (2003)
CRUMB (1995)
Past Sundance docs:
THE OTHER DREAM TEAM (2012)
Why You Should Watch:
As noted in my Sundance capsule above, Greenfield presents a compelling – and disturbing – look at the rise of global materialism at the expense of all else. The film premieres as one of this year’s Day One screenings.
More Info:
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For Sundance screening dates and times, click the film title in the first paragraph.
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