Gord Quinn and Jerry Temaner, 1968, 66 min.
In the politically fraught climate of Chicago in 1968, two young nuns crisscross the city in order to ask strangers the question, "Are you happy?" The answers vary: "Happiness is the absence of fear," "Avoiding people," "Raspberries," "Joy in knowing Christ." They meet a lonely girl, a happy mother, young lovers, hippie musicians, a sociologist and even character actor Stepin Fetchit. The humor and sadness of these honest encounters lift the film beyond its conceit into a serious and moving inquiry into contemporary society and the circumstances under which people examine their lives.
While Gordon Quinn and Jerry Temaner's second film after Home For Life (1966) was a distinctly American response to the pioneering French documentary Chronicle of a Summer (1960), it had the added benefit of laying the groundwork for decades of Kartemquin films to come.
Zoom Q&A with filmmakers Gordon Quinn, Brett Story & Mark Street focused on their films in the series Le Joli Maysles Saturday, May 23rd at 4pm est.
This film is streaming as part of the month long series Le Joli Maysles, celebrating the lovely month of May with repertory and new release documentaries in conversation with the seminal 1963 film Le Joli Mai by Chris Marker. These films approach Marker’s man-on-the-street documentary technique sometimes as a jumping off point for their own process and purposes, and sometimes pushing against the implications of this process.
Due to the nature of this screening we are unable to offer sliding scale ticketing prices. A portion of all ticket sales from Work Songs will go to directly supporting Maysles Cinema and our documentary education programs for young people in Harlem during these uncertain times. We continue to be incredibly grateful for our engaged and resilient community and their support. If you would like to make an additional donation to Maysles Documentary Center you can follow THIS LINK.
