by Eleanor Mannikka
synopsis
This semi-biographical documentary focuses on the career of Willard Van Dyke, a photographer, filmmaker, and chief curator of the film department of the Museum of Modern Art in New York for many years. Van Dyke discusses his work and his reasons for switching from still photography to film and briefly delves into his commitment to social activism, the decline of the political documentary in the 1950s, and his subsequent entry into the academic and museum world. The director Amalie Rothschild adds lively interviews with Ralph Steiner, Donald Richie, and Joris Ivens to round out the entertaining and interesting picture presented by Van Dyke himself.
