Born to Film and Two Fathers
Born to Film
Danny Lyon
Bleak Beauty Video
Born to Film, 1982, New York and Mexico, b&w, 33 minutes, a young boy emerges from the filmic history of his past.
“‘Born to Film’ is, among other things, intimately autobiographical, interspersing footage of Lyon’s own young son with film shot in the 1930’s by Lyon’s father, a doctor who immigrated from Germany. . . Lyon’s passionate vision has deepened and grown in resonance and the film is not just family or even social history, but about human continuity, the power of instinct to survive, the grace that love and play bring to it, the wonder of being alive.”
Thomas Albright, San Francisco Chronicle
“. . . in his relationship with his father and son in Born To Film, Lyon serves as a connecting link, collaging together separate lives. The disparate, often incoherent or contradictory images are presented with a passion and directness which gives them reality. . . “
Pamela Allara, Pictures from Films/Films from Pictures, 1984
Two Fathers
Danny Lyon
Bleak Beauty Video
Two Fathers, 2005, New York, 30 mins. The child star of Born to Film, Raphael is now a twenty-seven year old who returns to his father’s farm to plant corn and “experience fatherhood”.
Intercut as a film that takes place in the world of Germany in the 1920’s, and Queens, of the 1940’s, as Dr. Ernst Lyon’s remarkable album photographs bring to life worlds long gone. Time is collapsed. “Two Fathers” is a filmic meditation on life, age, family and death. Completed with support from the George Eastman Museum program for film preservation.
NOW AVAILABLE ON DVD, as a 2 DISC SET
| VIEW Born to Film and Two Fathers free on Vimeo |
| Born to Film Born to Film Trailer |
| Two Fathers Two Fathers Trailer |
| PURCHASE Born to Film/Two Fathers DVD Boxed Set |
| Individual US $25.00 USD Institution US $150.00 USD Institution International $160.00 USD |
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