Short Works by Julia Reichert & Steven Bognar

press release: USA | DCP | 95 min.

Director: Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar

This program contains three diverse and compelling short documentaries by Reichert and Bognar, two of the most accomplished artists in the medium. The Oscar-nominated The Last Truck (2009, 40 min.) depicts the 2008 closing of a General Motors assembly plant in Moraine, Ohio shut its doors. As a result, 2,000 workers and 200 management staff were left without jobs. The closing also triggered the loss of thousands of related jobs and businesses. But the GM workers lost much more than jobs, including the pride they shared in their work and the camaraderie they built through the years. To the natives of the greater Dayton area, General Motors wasn't just a car company - it was the lifeblood of the community. Sparkle (2012, 18 min.) is a loving portriat of Sheri “Sparkle” Williams, a star dancer with the legendary Dayton Contemporary Dance Company for nearly 40 years – a record unheard-of in the professional dance community – and she is one of the few dancers outside of New York City to have been honored with the prestigious Bessie Award for Individual Performance. When this powerhouse dancer suffers her first serious injury, she faces the question – does she have the will to return to the stage, as her 50th birthday approaches? Followed by Making Morning Star (2016, 37 min.), a behind-the-scenes look at the joys and challenges of developing a new American opera. Featuring interviews with composer Ricky Ian Gordon, librettist William M. Hoffman, and director Ron Daniels, the film captures the delicate collaborative balance of personalities during an intense collaboration unfolding in a workshop hosted by the Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music. Will the opera be ready on time?

Julia Reichert: 50 Years in Film: Emmy Award-winner and three-time Academy Award-nominee Julia Reichert has produced one of the most distinguished bodies of work in American independent documentaries. To celebrate the Ohio-based filmmaker, the Cinematheque is proud

to participate as a venue for this touring retrospective, organized by the Wexner Center in Columbus, that spans Reicher’s career from the landmark feminist conscious-raiser Growing Up Female (1971) to her most recent films including 9to5: The Story of a Movement (2019). Julia Reichert will appear in person on Saturday, November 16, to present her Oscar-nominated feature, Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists. Special Thanks to the Wexner Center’s Dave Filipi.