PROCESSION (Trailer)
A film by Neil Selkirk

Procession, shot from a single location adjacent to the Highline park in New York City, is a paean to this former elevated freight rail line, now transformed into a horticultural marvel, a magnet for locals and tourists alike, who venture along it—jogging, promenading, or simply walking—at all hours of the day and night. With no script, no dialogue, no voice-over, and no music except the sounds of the city, this film dispassionately records the cycle of observing, and documenting, and being observed and documented, aided and abetted, of course, by the ubiquitous smart phone. In this inadvertent ritual that becomes the purpose itself, the performers—for they are performers—oblivious to the clarity with which each evokes and projects individual demeanors and feelings, act within a proscenium of which both they and the audience are unaware. Procession is a forthright and unambiguous study of one’s fellow humans as they navigate this unique sliver of the world.

WHO IS MARVIN ISRAEL?
A film by Neil Selkirk

Who is Marvin Israel? is a documentary about the life and work of the enigmatic artist, designer, art director, and teacher in the words of those who knew him. Unseen and unrecognized by all but a small group of people, most of whom were not yet famous, Marvin Israel became the friend and provocateur to many of the photographers who defined the medium in the last half of the twentieth century. Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, and many others honed their aesthetic on the unforgiving whetstone of Marvin Israel’s unpredictable intuitions.

Although his own paintings were described in the New York Times as “utterly astonishing” and “the work of a master” he never achieved broad recognition or financial success as an artist.

As a designer, he reinvented the nature of the photography exhibition, transforming it into a dramatic visual adventure that has set the standard ever since. In his brief tenure as Harpers Bazaar’s art director, he helped trigger the eruption of interest in fine photography by publishing, in the unlikely context of a fashion magazine, Walker Evans’ subway photographs, portraits and architectural photographs he commissioned by Bill Brandt, and seriously offbeat projects by Arbus and Friedlander. He also designed books for his friends, many of which stand as icons.

Robert Frank, when told about the making of this film about Marvin Israel, immediately agreed to participate, and added “what took you so long?”