Photo credit: Stephen Lam/The SF Chronicle
Like always, the Mill Valley Film Festival hailing from Northern California every autumn, has a robust documentary showcase section. For the 2024 festival this includes 21 real story films. Not least among them is an impressive entry from American director and producer, Julie Rubio. She is best known for producing the award-winning independent film “East Side Sushi” but premiering at MVFF is her feature length documentary debut, “The True Story of Tamara De Lempicka & the Art of Survival”. This is the story of the greatly admired, yet little known about female artist, Tamar De Lempicka. From her rise to stardom in 1920s Paris to her move to the United States in 1940, fleeing the rise of fascism, and her revival in the current art market. A working mother, feminist, style icon, and bisexual libertine, De Lempicka embodied Art Deco’s spirit and portrayed high society women in boldly erotic terms that broke the male gaze. Encouraged by her grandmother, young Tamara emerged as a prodigious talent who combined cubism, classicism, and surrealism to reinvent the female figure, not as object but as protagonist. In this riveting documentary, Rubio fills in the surprising contours of a remarkable life with never-seen-before home movies and other artifacts, and including never-before-publicized information from descendants, curators, and art historians who cite reinvention as the survival strategy. De Lempicka is a misunderstood but courageous figure who fled the war and authoritarianism, while supporting herself and her daughter and determined to stay true to her artistic vision. Although the specific project is four years in the making for Rubio, the idea for it and its initial plans for it as a feature film started nearly 20 years ago. Recently, I got the opportunity to speak to her about the project’s concept and journey. PF: The documentary is a departure from your other projects. How did it come about? JR: When I first met the de Lempickas about 20 years ago at the Weinstein Art Gallery while working on another artists-related screenplay. A common acquaintance through the gallery knew the de Lempicka’s (daughter and granddaughter) were looking for writer-director to do something about Tamara, so he facilitated a meeting between them and myself. We hit it off right away, and I began to research Tamara to create a narrative screenplay. Unfortunately, early on in that process things got a bit complicated regarding rights, etc. Given the issues, I decided to file away the project. Fast forward many years later during early days of the pandemic during a conversation between my creative producer, Amy Harris and I, we brought up the idea of re-visiting a project about Tamara. This time though, it felt like doing it as a documentary, not a narrative, was the better, more authentic approach. PF: At that point, did you reconnect with the de Lempicka family and get their blessing on this new iteration of the project? JR: We had remained in touch and friends, so they had no hesitation about it. I took advantage of having time on my hands during the pandemic to dive into the research and begin the project in earnest. PF: Through research you acquired, you made some interesting discoveries about Tamara’s identity. Please explain about that. JR: Yes, we found groundbreaking documents and publications confirming Tamara’s true name and birthdate, and her family’s conversion from Judaism to Calvinism. PF: Once you started uncovering these things, it became a big guiding force for the direction of the film, correct? JR: Absolutely. So many modern researchers and writers got it wrong. They over simplified Tamara and her unique situation, marginalizing her and claiming she was a weak person and just vain. They vilified her for calling her daughter her sister. But she was raising a daughter on her own and coming into her talent and stardom when there were very few women in the art world, and during the rise of Hitler. She was covering because she was a single mother, Jewish and bi-sexual. ___________________________________________________________ For years, the world believed Tamara de Lempicka’s name was Tamara Rosalie Goragorscoc, and that she was born on May 16, 1898. Rubio’s researched uncovered that her name was actually Tamara Rose Hurowitz, and she was born June 16, 1894. The whole family converted religion and changed their name. ____________________________________________________________ JR: It sheds that light on the courage, the measures it took in order to survive as a family. Her concealment of her Jewish heritage wasn’t an act of deceit, as many made it out to be., it was necessary against the ever present persecution. Others have overlooked these aspects of her life that reveal the challenges and her resilience. PF: The heart of the documentary because answering the questions about why and how she felt compelled to hide so much of her identity, in addition to what she is known for… her art. JR: Yes, in addition to all her life challenges and having to hide in order to survive, she was a brilliant talent that left such a legacy of art. If you look at each of her paintings, they tell a story. If you look at the year, you know exactly what was going on in her life and what was going on politically. PF: Through the filmmaking process what ended up being the most challenging for you? Was it balancing with the family, or maybe research or funding? JR: Fundraising for sure. Women are still not getting the same support for films. We’re living in a man’s world but have lots of female stories. And although we make up 51 per cent of the population, we’re navigating a system, especially in the film industry, that skews to men and their projects. Thank goodness for a festival like MVFF that started the Mind the Gap program, specifically designed to give women filmmakers more access in their programming. _______________________________________________________________ Mind the Gap champions the bold female and nonbinary filmmakers telling these stories. For the 2024 festival the program features a wave of exceptional emerging talent shaping the future of film and collective imaginations. This gender equity initiative began several years ago when festival organizers set a goal to achieve a 50/50 balance of women and men directors at the festival. To their delight, they reached their goal earlier than expected. _______________________________________________________________ “The True Story of Tamara De Lempicka & the Art of Survival” is wonderfully imbued with the renowned artist’s stunning paintings, along with equally enlightening never-before-revealed information about the painter. A big part of what makes certain documentaries work more so than others is access and revelation. Ms. Rubio’s homage to De Lempicka delivers on both aspects and is well worth seeking out. I you are in the San Francisco Bay Area you can see the film at the MVFF on October 13th. The U.S. premiere of the documentary at MVFF coincides with the first major U.S. retrospective of the artist’s works at the de Young Arts Museum of San Francisco going on now through February 9, 2025. Upcoming screenings: - Roxie Theater San Francisco, October 26 @ 1pm Julie Rubio is also the founder of East Meets West Productions. When she's not working on her films, she's helping other women realize their movie making goals as the Director of Business for Women in Film SF Bay Area.
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AuthorPaula Farmer. Archives
October 2024
Film |