Picture Day

Do you like being photographed? Why are pictures important? Dozens of schoolchildren are portrayed by a photographer and, in the act, questioned about the importance of posing and of photographs. PICTURE DAY shows the American multicultural society, from an elementary school corridor. Dark and pale faces, angry and cheerful, wide awake and drowsy, shy and brazen, dirty and clean; all sorts and kinds file past in seven minutes. At times, the photographs suddenly come to life. Director of this short, experimental documentary is Steven Bognar, whose award-winning film PERSONAL BELONGINGS, about his father’s escape from Hungary, was screened at IDFA in 1997.