At the 71st VIFF: One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich and the Lost American Film (2014); directed by Bill Teck

Making its premiere at the 71st Venice International Film Festival is the documentary One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich and the Lost American Film, about Bogdanovich’s 1981 lost film They All Laughed. I mean, it’s not lost, not really, you can rent it, but for all intents and purposes, it was a lost film. Rarely seen, but influential, and beautiful, They All Laughed is one of Bogdanovich’s best (and for him that’s saying something.)

Directed by Bill Teck, One Day Since Yesterday is about the filming of They All Laughed, Peter Bogdanovich’s 1981 film, which starred Ben Gazzarra, Audrey Hepburn, John Ritter, Colleen Camp, and many others, including Dorothy Stratten. Stratten was murdered by her husband while Bogdanovich was editing the film. That event (portrayed so memorably and awfully in Bob Fosse’s Star 80) derailed the film, and derailed Bogdanovich’s flourishing career.

The description of the film on the VIFF site runs as follows:

The story of maverick film director Peter Bogdanovich’s love for the late Dorothy Stratten and his “Lost” film They All Laughed. Murdered by her estranged husband as Bogdanovich was editing They All Laughed. This film summons up the romance, heartbreak and devotion present as Bogdanovich bought his film back from the studio when they threatened to shelve it, his efforts to distribute it himself, almost to his own ruin. A real life love story of passion and belief in the power of art. Through the story of Peter’s journey with They All Laughed, the documentary explores all of Bogdanovich’s career and his challenges to see his personal vision vindicated in an era unsympathetic to the bold and unique visions he risked it all on. It’s the story of a lost film, which played the Venice Film Festival in 1981, unavailable in any medium for years and it’s triumphant re-appreciation, championed by filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach—and of the sweet, makeshift family that’s sprung up around They All Laughed’s tragedies, bonds still strong even 30 years later. One Day Since Yesterday is a wistful valentine to art, love, loss, redemption and the power of cinema.

Director Bill Teck writes:

For me, the story of Peter Bogdanovich’ devotion to his film They All Laughed and to the late Dorothy Stratten, is one of the most beautiful stories in all of cinema. Bogdanovich loves women and movies, and combined both perfectly in They All Laughed, only to have the woman he loved most stolen by a madman—and the film he loved most, lost to him—before a return to form and redemption for both his great film and his staggering talent. I wanted to make a film about the way we remember things—and the transient nature of the past and how we remember it, using slides, postcards, pieces of film and photos as well an homage to the love of film itself. In a way, Peter is tied to his movie, and good directors are tied to their films like an Aborigine is tied to the earth. So my mission was to make a film to remind an audience that even when things are thought to be forgotten, where there’s Art and True Love, things can’t be truly lost.

I’m proud to have been interviewed for the documentary! I love They All Laughed so much, and am happy to talk about it with anyone, anywhere. And yeah, not too shabby to be in a line-up of interviewees including Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson. My pal Jeremy Richey, of Moon In the Gutter and other sites, was also interviewed for the film. Beautifully, Bill Teck also interviewed Ben Gazzara before he passed away.

Bogdanovich has a new film out, also premiering in Venice. I wish I was at the festival!

You can read my posts about They All Laughed here:
The wordless opening sequence
The Algonquin Hotel sequence
QA with Peter Bogdanovich