''All the Beauty and the Bloodshed'' is a 2022 documentary film which explores the career of

Nan Goldin Nancy Goldin (born September 12, 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work often explores LGBT subcultures, moments of intimacy, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. Her most notable work is '' The Ballad of Sexual Depe ...

and the fall of the

Sackler family The Sackler family is an American family who founded and owned the pharmaceutical companies Purdue Pharma and Mundipharma. Purdue Pharma, and some members of the family, have faced lawsuits regarding overprescription of addictive pharmaceutical d ...

. The film was directed by

Laura Poitras Laura Poitras (; born February 2, 1964) is an American director and producer of documentary films. Poitras has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2015 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ''Citizenfour'', about Edwa ...

. Poitras said, "Nan's art and vision has inspired my work for years, and has influenced generations of filmmakers." The film premiered on September 3, 2022, at the

79th Venice International Film Festival The 79th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2022. Juries Main Competition (Venezia 79) * Julianne Moore, American actress and author (Jury President) * Mariano Cohn, Argentine director, screenw ...

, where it was awarded the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...

, making it the second documentary (following ''

Sacro GRA ''Sacro GRA'' (, Italian for "Holy GRA") is a 2013 Italian documentary film directed by Gianfranco Rosi. It won the Golden Lion at the 70th Venice International Film Festival. It was the first documentary film to win the award at the Venice Fest ...

'' in 2013) to win the top prize at Venice. It also screened at the

2022 New York Film Festival The 60th New York Film Festival took place from September 30 to October 16, 2022.Jake Coyle"New York Film Festival sets lineup for 60th edition". ''Toronto Star'', August 9, 2022. Noah Baumbach's ''White Noise'' was selected to be the Opening N ...

, where it was the festival's centerpiece film and for which Goldin designed two official posters.

Neon Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypton ...

, the film's distributor, stated that the theatrical release would coincide with a retrospective of Goldin's work at the

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö in t ...

, set to open October 29, 2022.

Synopsis

The film examines the life and career of photographer and activist

and her efforts to hold

Purdue Pharma Purdue Pharma L.P., formerly the Purdue Frederick Company, is an American privately held pharmaceutical company founded by John Purdue Gray. It was owned principally by members of the Sackler family as descendants of Mortimer and Raymond Sackler ...

, owned by the

, accountable for the

opioid epidemic The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the sign ...

. Goldin, a well known photographer whose work often documented the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

subcultures and the

HIV/AIDS crisis AIDS is caused by a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which originated in non-human primates in Central and West Africa. While various sub-groups of the virus acquired human infectivity at different times, the present pandemic had its origins i ...

, founded the advocacy group

P.A.I.N. P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) is an advocacy organization founded by Nan Goldin to respond to the opioid crisis, specifically targeting the Sackler Family for manufacturing and distributing the drug Oxycontin through their corp ...

(Prescription Addiction Intervention Now) in 2017 after her addiction to

Oxycontin Oxycodone, sold under various brand names such as Roxicodone and OxyContin (which is the extended release form), is a strong, semi-synthetic opioid used medically for treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is highly addictive and a commonly ...

, where she had a near fatal overdose. P.A.I.N. specifically targets museums and other arts institutions to hold the art community accountable for its collaboration with the Sackler family and its well publicized financial support of the arts. Since P.A.I.N.'s activities most of the targeted museums have severed all ties with the Sackler family and in 2021 Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy. The film is structured in seven chapters, each of which begin with a photographic sequence or archival footage of a period of Goldin's life and then transitions to footage of her recent protests with P.A.I.N. The slideshow of archival photographs is reminiscent of Goldin's work creating slideshows or series of photographs, such as ''

The Ballad of Sexual Dependency ''The Ballad of Sexual Dependency'' is a 1985 slide show exhibition and 1986 artist's book publication of photographs taken between 1979 and 1986 by photographer Nan Goldin. It is an autobiographical document of a portion of New York City's No ...

''. Footage of P.A.I.N. demonstrations include its first 2018 protest at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

’s

Temple of Dendur The Temple of Dendur (Dendoor in the 19th century) is a Roman Egyptian religious structure originally located in Tuzis (later Dendur), Nubia about south of modern Aswan. Around 23 BCE, Emperor Augustus commissioned the temple dedicated to the E ...

as well as similar demonstrations at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

and the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

. Goldin is the primary narrator of the film, with additional interviews from associates such as journalist Patrick Radden Keefe and P.A.I.N. member Megan Kapler.

Cast

Patrick Radden Keefe Patrick Radden Keefe (born 1976) is an American writer and investigative journalist. He is the author of five books—''Chatter,'' ''The Snakehead,'' '' Say Nothing,'' ''Empire of Pain,'' and ''Rogues''—and has written extensively for many publ ...

* Megan Kapler

Production

Goldin and two other activists had been filming their activities with P.A.I.N. for two years, intending to make a documentary about the activist group. Goldin then approached the film's production company about turning the footage into a film, and Laura Poitras was suggested to Goldin to direct the film, based on Poitras's work on ''Astro Noise'' for the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude ...

. Goldin was initially skeptical because of Poitras' previous political films, saying "I thought I was not going to be interesting to her because I don’t have any state secrets." Goldin has stated that most of the film's footage and photographs come directly from her. Poitras expanded on Goldin's vision for the project, and chose to make a more well-rounded film about Goldin's life and career. These biographical elements include the suicide of Goldin's sister, Goldin's drug use and her sex work activities, which she had never previously publicized, as well as her art career and achievements. Goldin initially felt uncomfortable with allowing Poitras to control the film and the depiction of her life, but was happy with the finished film. Goldin said that Poitras was "telling my story in my voice, but it's not exactly my version as I would tell it. But she's been amazing into letting me have a lot of input into what's used and not used."

Release

The film premiered on September 3, 2022, at the

, where it was awarded the

. It screened at the

2022 Toronto International Film Festival The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, the 47th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, is scheduled to be held from September 8 to 18, 2022. Festival organizers have indicated that the 2022 festival will be staged primar ...

on September 9. Shortly afterwards Poitras criticized both the Venice and Toronto festivals for screening a film produced by

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

, ''In Her Hands''. Poitras stated that she was "alarmed" by Clinton's presence at the festivals, adding "Hillary Clinton was actively involved in the wars and occupations in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. She supported the escalation of troops." It also screened at the

, where it was the festival's centerpiece film. In August 2022, before its Venice premiere,

acquired the US distribution rights for the movie while the UK and Ireland rights were taken by

Altitude Film Distribution Altitude Film Distribution is a British film distribution company, part of the Altitude Film Entertainment group. The parent company was launched in 2012 by Optimum Releasing founder Will Clarke. Altitude Film Entertainment is vertically int ...

. In September 2022,

HBO Documentary Films Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...

acquired television and streaming rights to the film. The film was released in theaters by Neon on November 23, 2022.

Reception

Critical response

According to Rotten Tomatoes, ''All the Beauty and the Bloodshed'' has a 96% approval rating, based on 67 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 8.8/10. The website's consensus reads "''All the Beauty and the Bloodshed'' is a bone-deep look at a photographer's fight against addiction and the institution responsible for her pain through her gritty lens." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film holds a score of 89 out of 100, based on 11 reviews, indicating “universal acclaim”. Godrefy Cheshire praised the film for being equally Poitras' and Goldin's work, stating that "there's effectively no conceptual distance between the auteur documentarian and her artist subject...the result of their sympathetic engagement is a collaboration of rare beauty and power."

Accolades

References

External links

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
at Praxis Films * * * {{Navboxes , title = Awards for ''All the Beauty and the Bloodshed'' , list = {{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Documentary Film {{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary Film {{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Non-Fiction Film {{The Golden Lion 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2022 documentary films 2022 films American documentary films Documentary films about American politics Films directed by Laura Poitras Golden Lion winners Participant (company) films