Lifeline: Clyfford Still
by Dennis Scholl, USA 2020, 77'
PHOTOGRAPHY: Ed Talavera   MUSIC: Shelton G Berg, Jake Hartmann
EDITING:: Konstantia Kontaxis   PRODUCERS: Dennis Scholl, Marlon Johnson, Konstantia Kontaxis
LANGUAGE: vo: English; sub: Italian    

Schermo dell'Arte - Archivio Film    Presented at the 14th edition of Lo schermo dell'arte, 2021

Through interviews, audio recordings and period films, the documentary tells the largely unknown story of one of the leading exponents of Abstract Expressionism, American painter Clyfford Still. Controversial, irascible Still never compromised. At the height of his career he refused to market his works. In his will he donated them to any American city that would keep them in a museum dedicated to him. The film reconstructs this story and highlights the complex relationships between the artist and other key figures of American art of the 1950s such as Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, as well as the relationship with collectors and gallery owners of the time. In shedding light on the painter’s life, Lifeline becomes a starting point for reflection on the relationship between contemporary artistic production and the market. But thanks to the words of Still’s daughters, it is also an intimate portrait of a rigorous artist who thought the union between art and life was indissoluble.

Dennis Scholl is an award-winning documentary filmmaker dedicated to art and culture. He has made documentaries on artists Robert Redford, Frank Gehry, Wynton Marsalis, Ai Wei Wei and Theaster Gates. His latest documentary, The Last Resort, won the Miami Jewish Film Festival Audience Award and is viewable on Netflix.

Selected Filmography 
2018 The Last Resort 2017 Symphony In D; The Tools of the Game 2016 Queen of Thursdays; Namour; Glove
 
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