I Remember

Robert Frank’s photos were raw and realistic in their explicit portrayals of everyday racism and poverty in rural America – something that wasn’t welcomed in the United States of the 1950s. This was the era of Eisenhower, optimism, Pax Americana and unbridled capitalism – Frank’s pictures didn’t fit in. It was only after his talent was acknowledged in Europe that he broke through in the U.S. Distrustful of this sudden embrace by the public, Frank immediately dispensed with his still camera and started making films. But they were actually a continuation and intensification of his photographic work. His direct and unpolished style allowed him to reflect not only on his surroundings, but also on himself, the meaning of photography and what role the photographer can and must play. In , Frank re-enacts a visit he made to the photographic pioneer Alfred Stieglitz and his wife, artist Georgia O’Keeffe. The man playing the role of Frank is the young French photographer Jérôme Sother, who also voices the director’s musings. Frank himself plays the role of Stieglitz, and Frank’s wife June Leaf, also an artist, plays O’Keeffe. The result is a duality in time, simultaneously remote and very close.