''Jay Myself'' is a 2018 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed by Stephen Wilkes, produced by his wife, Bette Wilkes, and written by Josh Alexander.

Synopsis

The film chronicles the days during which renowned photographer

Jay Maisel Jay Maisel (born January 18, 1931) is an American photographer. His awards include the Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Media Photographers,

decides to sell his long-time New York home, the historic six-story former Germania Bank Building on

the Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th Street in the north.Jackson, Kenneth L. "Bo ...

, for $55 million dollars. The documentary tells the story of how Maisel obtained this property in 1967. The film starts with Maisel having only five months left until his building will be sold. During these months he is sorting through 72 rooms, showcasing a collection of VHS tapes, special-sized screws, and of course, the photographs for which he was famous.

Cast

as himself * Stephen Wilkes as himself *Amanda Maisel as herself

Production and screening

The production began with Wilkes, back then a photographer himself, getting acquainted with Maisel in 1979, and soon after becoming his close friend, assistant and mentee. The film was shot in 2015. ''Jay Myself'' premiered at 2018 Doc NYC. It was screened at numerous other film festivals, including the

Atlanta Jewish Film Festival The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival is the largest film festival of any kind in the state of Georgia and is the largest Jewish film festival in the world. The 23-day festival is held in late winter at multiple venues in Atlanta, Georgia and in the sub ...

, the

Cleveland International Film Festival The Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) is an annual film festival based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the largest film festival in Ohio. It was first held in 1977, showing eight films over a period of eight weeks at the Cedar Lee Theatre. ...

, the

Newport Beach Film Festival The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival have permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival beg ...

and OTR Film Festival. It also was screened domestically at the 2019

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

and at the

Sedona Film Festival The Sedona International Film Festival (SIFF) is an annual, eight-day film festival in Sedona, Arizona. The festival was founded in 1994. The Sedona Film Festival screens feature films, documentary films, short films, animated films, and studen ...

Reception

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website

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, the film has approval rating based on reviews, with an average ranking of . On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, ''Jay Myself'' have a rank of 74 out of a 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". John DeFore of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' called ''Jay Myself'' "A fascinating look at an artist's life", while

Glenn Kenny Glenn Kenny (born August 8, 1959) is an American film critic and journalist. He writes for ''The New York Times'' and '' RogerEbert.com''. Biography Kenny attended William Paterson University, where he majored in English literature.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' stated simply "It's a fun journey". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''s Owen Gleiberman praised the narration, writing "Wilke views his old mentor with affection, but with a supreme awareness of what a crazy-charismatic crank he can be". Nick Allen of '' RogerEbert.com'' had a different opinion. He wrote: "Whether this is all for the sake of art or not, it can be too nauseating to peer into from the outside". According to Derek Smith of '' Slant Magazine'', "Jay Maisel's former home suggests a bastion of creativity in a neighborhood whose rough edges have been completely sanded down". Leah Pickett of '' Chicago Reader'' wrote in her closing comments that " the end, the viewer might find herself both feeling the loss at the center of Maisel and Wilkes's letting-go process and craving a similar grotto of her own".

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 8890074
Jay Maisel – Jay Myself – A DocumentaryJay Myself on Oscilloscope
2018 documentary films American documentary films Films about photographers Films set in 2015 2010s English-language films 2010s American films