andy warhol: a documentary film

Ric Burns, 234 mins, USA, 2006, Digital Betacam. Courtesy: Madman Cinema. Narrated by Laurie Anderson, and featuring Andy Warhol voiced by Jeff Koons

Renowned filmmaker Ric Burns (The Civil War, New York: A Documentary Film) returns with an absorbing portrait of one of pop culture’s most enthralling and influential figures.

Described by art historian Neil Printz as “a touchstone of the culture we live in”, Warhol’s world of commerce/high art meets underground is examined in full, as is the larger story of American cultural history from the 1950s to 1970s. Andy Warhol once described himself as a “deeply superficial” person. But what’s underneath that notoriously vague and vacuous façade? Renowned filmmaker Ric Burns scratches through the shiny mask of this pop art icon in Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film. Screening as part of our First Look series, the film uses archival materials and interviews to examine the intoxicating world of Warhol’s art and life while simultaneously charting America’s own cultural history from the 1950s to the 1970s. And as the artist who amplified Warhol’s unique mix of art and consumer culture to new heights, it’s appropriate that Warhol is voiced in the film by Puppy creator Jeff Koons. It’s fitting too that seminal art goddess Laurie Anderson narrates.

“A must for culture vultures” Variety Magazine

Screened at 2007 Berlin International Film Festival and the Film Forum New York. Australian Premiere!

dates Thu 25 Oct 2007, 7pm Fri 26 Oct 2007, 7pm Sat 27 Oct 2007, 7pm Sun 28 Oct 2007, 3.30pm

Showing at ACMI.