Letter to the Editor

For 40 years, filmmaker Alan Berliner clipped out photos from The New York Times that caught his eye, organizing them thematically and cross-indexing subject matter, sometimes in seemingly unlikely ways. Acting as archivist, librarian and film narrator, he has amassed a collection that is a bold statement on human nature and how history often repeats itself. An elegy to the printed newspaper through sumptuous storytelling and inventive use of visual editing and sound, this tour of history feels like a fast-paced music video mixed with slower melodic movements used to great effect. The film brings to question what is happening to freedom of the press as newspapers die out due to digital news consumption and, as the narrator ponders “...news is no longer good, bad or fake...it’s whatever you want it to be because it’s created just for you.” An incredibly timely and thought-provoking film. Makes one appreciate a languid afternoon with the Sunday paper and a cup of coffee and wonder if this is a vanishing pleasure? (Woodstock Film Festival)