The Woodmans [2010]

Francesca Woodman (April 3, 1958 – January 19, 1981) was an American photographer best known for her black and white pictures featuring herself and female models. Many of her photographs show young women who are nude, blurred (due to movement and long exposure times), merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured. Her work continues to be the subject of much critical acclaim and attention, years after she killed herself at the age of 22.

"The Woodmans" focuses on a nuclear family of artists and exploring the effects of the prodigiously talented daughter’s suicide, C. Scott Willis’ elegiac debut feature is an inspiring portrait of working artists, fragile and resilient. The film picked up the best New York documentary prize at Tribeca.

Francesca Woodman, who died in 1981 at 22, was by all accounts exceptional, and the body of work she left behind — mostly haunting photographs, many of them surrealist-influenced nude self-portraits — attests to a visionary imagination.

The temptation for many observers is to imbue every piece with premonitions of her final, self-destructive act. But Willis, a veteran of nonfiction television who was granted full access to the prolific woman’s photos, videos and journals, is more concerned with the fulfilling but precarious realities of aesthetic devotion, a way of life Francesca learned from her parents.

Her journals express acute self-awareness, longing and disconnection — all common enough traits in creative people. One of the observations Willis highlights, “My parents are so very married,” speaks to the intense bond between ceramist/sculptor Betty and painter/photographer George, together now almost 60 years. With their clear-eyed assessment of parenthood — George characterizes children as “gift-calamities” — and their unapologetic insistence that art is their chief purpose, they’re fascinating, likable subjects.

Francesca’s work awed her parents and brother Charles as much as it did her classmates and teachers. It’s now highly valued and in a way overshadows that of George and Betty. In interviews for the film, the Woodmans are candid about the unavoidable professional rivalry; understandably, they’re more guarded about articulating their grief. Filling that gap are teary moments from a few of Francesca’s friends. And joining Betty and George on a Venice gondola, DP Neil Barrett zeroes in on a moment that’s bursting with heartache.

The above video shows a collection of Francesca Woodman's video works. These extremely rare videos have only recently been compiled by the estate and shown only occasionally. The videos reveal a singular glimpse into the working process of this extraordinary young artist.

A brief description of Francesca Woodman's Life and Pictures