''Red Shirley'' is a short documentary film directed by

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

. It tells the story of his cousin, Shirley Novick, living through World War I, fleeing Poland before World War II, and taking part in the

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic righ ...

. The film was shot by photographer

Ralph Gibson Ralph Gibson (born January 16, 1939) is an American art photographer best known for his photographic books. His images often incorporate fragments with erotic and mysterious undertones, building narrative meaning through contextualization and su ...

, and the soundtrack was recorded by

Metal Machine Trio Metal Machine Trio was a group founded in 2008 by Lou Reed, Ulrich Krieger and Sarth Calhoun. The group played free improvised music, touching on various genres from free rock, free jazz, minimal music, noise music, electronica, to ambient mu ...

. In 2011, Reed said there was a "great impetus" to create the film ''Red Shirley'', given that a lot of information would be lost if he didn't. The film's world première was at the 2010 Visions du Réel festival in Nyon, Switzerland, before appearing in New York at the Jewish Film Festival. The trailer for the documentary featured a collection of photographs and a conversation between Reed and his cousin Novick. Novick's nickname is "Red Shirley", hence the title of the film.

Summary

Lou Reed interviews his cousin, Shirley Novick, on the eve of her 100th birthday. Novick recalls growing up in a small village in Poland during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

; fleeing to the United States by way of Canada before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and losing her parents to the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

; toiling for 47 years in New York City's garment district, where she became a labor activist; reuniting with her sisters, who had emigrated to Palestine; and taking part in the

in 1963.

Critical reception

Premiering in Switzerland in 2010, ''Red Shirley'' was screened at film festivals around the world, including the 20th annual New York Jewish Film Festival and the 2011

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, where it was well received. Sean Michaels of the ''Guardian'' described it as an "affectionate and moving portrait." Kurt Brokaw of ''the Independent'' magazine called it "a work both endearing and enduring." Dave Robson of ''Sound on Sight'' wrote, "These are the sorts of films that future historians will thank us for." The film will be included in the Jewish Museum's film collection.

References

External links

Watch ''Red Shirley'' Full Movie on Snagfilms.com
* {{IMDb title, 1628045
"Good Evening Mr. Waldheim" lyrics
American documentary films Documentary films about the Holocaust 2010 films Lou Reed 2010s English-language films 2010s American films

Summary

Critical reception

See also

References

External links