MC ELWEE AT MOMA. At the kickoff for MOMA's Ross McElwee retrospective, the maker of Sherman's March named some movies that influenced him during his student days. One of the films was Frederick Wiseman's documentary Titicut Follies, which McElwee remembered seeing in a psychology class. (For many years, this Kafkaesque look at a correctional institution and its inmates was, due to legal rulings, officially viewable only in that kind of venue.) Other movies that inspired McElwee include the documentary Primary, Paul Schrader's Blue Collar, and Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets.

After many years of sporadic contact with McElwee, I was glad to finally introduce myself in person. Also present was McElwee's vibrant muse-mentor Charleen Swansea, whose papers concerning Ezra Pound, Red Clay Reader, and Red Clay Publishing are now held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I tried to say hello and thank her for agreeing to an interview with me years ago, but I had trouble breaking into her lively conversations.

It turns out that McElwee and Swansea will speak at Friday night's 6 p.m. screening of Charleen and Backyard. I'm not sure I'll make it there, but it sounds like it could be wonderful.

One of the distinctive aspects of McElwee's movies is his incorporation of "flawed" material — footage without sound, sound without footage, "ruined" shots, etc. So I suppose it's okay for me to share this portrait of McElwee.
























Serves me right for trying to take pictures with a phone. Maybe I'd have more success phoning people with a movie projector.

Photo: David Marc Fischer