Louise Dahl-Wolfe: Painting with Light (1999

1999 in film

The year 1999 in film involved several noteworthy events and has been called "The Year That Changed Movies". Several significant feature films, including Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut, Pedro Almodóvar's first Oscar-winning film All About My Mother, science fiction The Matrix, Deep...

) is a documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 about Louise Dahl-Wolfe

Louise Dahl-Wolfe

Louise Emma Augusta Dahl was a noted American photographer. She is known primarily for her work for Harper's Bazaar, in association with fashion editor Diana Vreeland.-Background:...

, an important woman in the history of photography. It was written and directed by Tom Neff

Tom Neff

Thomas Linden Neff, known as Tom Neff, is a film executive, director and producer, born in Chicago, Illinois. Currently, he lives in Nashville, Tennessee.-Education:Neff received his Bachelor of Arts from Lawrence University with a major in English...

, and produced by Neff and Madeline Bell, who previously collaborated on the Oscar nominated short-documentary Red Grooms: Sunflower in a Hothouse

Red Grooms: Sunflower in a Hothouse

Red Grooms: Sunflower in a Hothouse is a short film biography of the Nashville-born artist Red Grooms. It was written by Tom Neff, co-directed by Neff and Louise LeQuire, and produced by Neff and Madeline Bell...

(1986

1986 in film

-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....

).

Synopsis

This short documentary film on the life of Louise Dahl-Wolfe

Louise Dahl-Wolfe

Louise Emma Augusta Dahl was a noted American photographer. She is known primarily for her work for Harper's Bazaar, in association with fashion editor Diana Vreeland.-Background:...

 draws upon her art and her personality. The documentary reviews how Dahl-Wolfe "discovered" Lauren Bacall, who at the time was a young actress (seventeen years-of-age) and worked as a model. It was Dahl-Wolfe's photos of Bacall that film producer Harry Warner

Harry Warner

Harry Morris Warner was an American studio executive, one of the founders of Warner Bros., and a major contributor to the development of the film industry. Along with his three brothers Warner played a crucial role in the film business and played a key role in establishing Warner Bros...

 saw, and subsequently asked Bacall that she come to Hollywood for a screen test. As a result, Bacall was cast opposite Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....

 in the film To Have and Have Not

To Have and Have Not (film)

To Have and Have Not is a 1944 romance-war-adventure film. The movie was directed by Howard Hawks and stars Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, and Lauren Bacall in her first film...

(1944

1944 in film

The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....

).

Dahl-Wolfe also photographed: Tallulah Bankhead

Tallulah Bankhead

Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...

, Spencer Tracy

Spencer Tracy

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...

, Eudora Welty

Eudora Welty

Eudora Alice Welty was an American author of short stories and novels about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous awards. She was the first living author to have her works published...

, Paul Robson

Paul Robson

Paul Robson is an English footballer who is currently unattached-England:Robson was on the books of Doncaster Rovers as a youth team player until 2001, when he joined Charlton Athletic...

, Bette Davis

Bette Davis

Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...

, and others.

Background

The documentary took over ten years to complete and features the only surviving modern footage of Dahl-Wolfe, including extensive interviews.

Distribution

The film has been shown on selected PBS television stations and was the first original production of the new digital channel: DOC: The Documentary Channel

DOC: The Documentary Channel

Documentary Channel is a specialty channel that features documentary programming. It airs independent documentary films from around the world, including those never-before-seen in the United States....

  and was screened at the Bel Air Film Festival

Bel Air Film Festival

The Bel Air International Film Festival, first held in 2008, is an annual international film festival which takes place in Bel Air and the greater Los Angeles area...

.

External links

• Louise Dahl-Wolfe: Painting with Light film clip at Google Videos