Cambridge Independents: David Sutherland
Description:
In studio, Margaret Lazarus introduces David Sutherland (independent filmmaker), mentions his local origins and his original plan to be a feature filmmaker. He talks about his education at USC in editing and directing, and his return to New England to sell tires at his family’s business. He mentions some fellow film school students and that he met his wife around that time. He talks about the first documentary film he made and his film school documentary course taught by a man who had worked with Leni Riefenstahl. He talks about a customer at his tire store who owned a diner on wagon wheels, which was the subject of his 1979 documentary, “Down Around Here.” Lazarus shows the complete 31-minute film of “Down Around Here.” He talks about a Lithuanian man he met during the production of his next documentary, about which he created a short 3-minute piece, “Branco: An Unfinished Portrait.” Lazarus shows the complete 3-minute piece.
He talks about how he met a painter named Paul Cadmus, who created a controversial painting of sailors that was seized by the U.S. Navy because he had depicted the sailors as homosexual. Lazarus shows a 6-minute, 30-second excerpt of the film he made about Cadmus, “Paul Cadmus: Enfant Terrible at 80.”
He talks about another painter he made a film about, Jack Levine. Lazarus shows an 11-minute excerpt of the film, “Jack Levine: Feast of Pure Reason.”
He talks about “Halftime,” a film that he was hired to make about five men, Yale graduates, who were coming to their 25th class reunion. Lazarus shows a 6-minute, 30-second excerpt of “Halftime.”
He talks about a recent film he made, about an old painting. He talks about a current film he’s working on with his wife and another writer. He talks about “Out of Sight,” a film he’s working on about five blind people and their everyday lives, and the blind executive producer of the film, David Ticchi.
