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Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Steve Bognar presenting a fully restored and 'remastered' edition of his first feature doc "Personal Belongings" at the Museum of Moving Images in NYC, the film's first public screening in over 20 years.
This was part of a film series of personal doc storytelling from the 90's, curated by Jeff Reichert and Asha Phelps, a series that even took its name from Steve's film (more here).
This is a truly powerful film that works on multiple levels and is about multiple things - home, family, longing for meaning, relationship, connection, parents, immigration and all that such relocation (and dislocation) of one's identity entails...
And though I had seen it numerous times back during it's making and initial days of release, that presumed familiarity with it did not prepare me for the expansive emotional depth of it when re-experiencing it, and the many levels of human experience that it touches on. It may sound boastful to say this about my one of my oldest friend's effort and one of the original Big Beef'sters, but it is simply a brilliant work of art.
I hope that this is the beginning of a renaissance for the film, and it's return to a larger public distribution. Though it's nearly thirty years since its release, and almost forty since it's inception, there's very little dated about it. In fact, it could be considered more relevant today than ever. But then, real art is always timeless.
Steve taking questions and talking honestly and directly at the film's re-premiere. This during a post-screening Q&A hosted by Marc Weiss, the creator of PBS's P.O.V. series, and who was responsible for the film's being featured on it, giving it major national exposure at the time.
The doc series getting a write up in the Sept 30, 2024
edition of The New Yorker
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