I Build the Tower
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''I Build the Tower'' is a feature-length
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 ...
depicting the life of Sabato Rodia also known as Sam Rodia and Simon Rodia, the Italian immigrant who created the
Watts Towers The Watts Towers, Towers of Simon Rodia, or ''Nuestro Pueblo'' ("our town" in Spanish) are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics within the site of the artis ...
in
South Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...
. The film has been recognized by Robert Koehler in ''
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), ...
'' as "the most complete visual account of Rodia and his masterpiece".


Production

Completed in 2006, ''I Build the Tower'' was directed, written and produced by Edward and Brad Byer. The project was initiated by Byer's extensive research into the life of Rodia, his great-uncle. With exclusive access to a wealth of family materials, Byer teamed up with independent filmmaker Edward who had been working with
Watts Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power. Watts may also refer to: People *Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters *Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' *Watts family, six chara ...
community groups for several years. Together they started production by filming the last recorded interview with architect, designer and futurist
Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing mo ...
, three months before his death in 1983. Hailing Rodia as "one of the greatest sculptors of the twentieth century", Fuller analyzed Rodia's intuitive understanding of aesthetics and natural engineering principles. The filmmakers went on to shoot their film throughout
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, the
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
Bay area and southern Italy, and managed to sustain the vitality of their work while waiting years for the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department to remove the scaffolding erected for the restoration of the towers. The narrative of the documentary is drawn from audio interviews of Rodia recorded in the early 1960s. In his own words and voice, Rodia himself chronicles his redemption from alcoholism and despair to a fierce determination to build "something big". The story is filled out by recent interviews with relatives, neighbors and other witnesses who have come into close contact with the Watts Towers, including artist John Outterbridge and historian Mike Davis.
Phil Proctor Philip Proctor (born 1940) is an American actor, comedian and a member of the Firesign Theatre. He has performed voice-over work for video games, films and television series. Career Of the four members of Firesign Theatre, Proctor has had t ...
of the
Firesign Theater The Firesign Theatre (also known as the Firesigns) was an American surreal comedy troupe who first appeared on November 17, 1966, in a live performance on the Los Angeles radio program ''Radio Free Oz'' on station KPFK FM. They continued app ...
gives voice to historic trial proceedings involving Rodia. The film's musical score is based on the opera arias of Giuseppe Verdi – the music Rodia loved – and spans the time and distance from nineteenth century Italy to present-day Los Angeles. The classical score was arranged and conducted by noted silent film music composer Robert Israel. Jazz pianist Nate Morgan composed an original jazz score using Verdi's themes and performed by Morgan's ensemble. Filmmakers Byer and conceived a hip-hop song incorporating Rodia's own voice as lead vocal, backed up by jazz vocalists Dwight Trible and Logan Johnson, Jr., set to music by Michael Abels. In April, 2009, ''I Build the Tower'' was the opening presentation of ''"Art and Migration: Sabato Rodia's Watts Towers in Los Angeles",'' the first international conference on the Watts Towers. The conference was held in Genoa, Italy, sponsored by the
University of Genoa The University of Genoa, known also with the acronym UniGe ( it, Università di Genova), is one of the largest universities in Italy. It is located in the city of Genoa and regional Metropolitan City of Genoa, on the Italian Riviera in the Liguri ...
and the U.C.L.A. International Institute.


Reception

''I Build the Tower'' has been praised by documentary filmmaker Ken Burns as "wonderful, lyrical and compelling", and by film critic
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...
as "heartfelt and fascinating... a real discovery".


References

* Christopher R. C. Bosen, "Oscar and Sam: Documentary Portraits of Two Creative Artists", Documentary: The Magazine of the International Documentary Association, Vol. 25, No. 7, November–December, 2006 * Robert Koehler, "Review of ''I Build the Tower''", Variety, March 15, 2005 * Andy Rose, "Documentary: Show Me the Money!", MovieMaker: The Art and Business of Making Movies, Issue No. 59, Vol. 12, Summer, 2005


External links

*
Interview with filmmaker Edward Landler


* {{IMDb title, 1400339 2006 films 2006 documentary films Art in Greater Los Angeles History of Los Angeles California Historical Landmarks Visionary environments Documentary films about Los Angeles Documentary films about visual artists 2000s English-language films