The most stylish strand at the festival features biopics and documentaries celebrating all aspects of design. There are insights into the industry and, of course, lots of beautiful things to admire.
Bill Cunningham New York and God Save My Shoes
Bill Cunningham New York
(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Richard Press; Stars: Bill Cunningham, Anna Wintour)
A documentary focusing on New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham and the fashion he captured on camera.
Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel
(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Lisa Immordino Vreeland)
The life of the notorious High Empress of Fashion, Diana Vreeland, is brought to the screen for the first time in this touching documentary. As writer and editor for both Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue and consultant for the Costume Institute of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, this impressive woman, one of 20th century fashion’s most iconic tastemakers, helped set the gold standard in style. Told through archive interviews with Vreeland herself, interwoven with prominent fashion figures discussing Vreeland’s influence on their work and the industry today, Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel provides an exhilarating look into the life and times of this fashion legend.
Girl Model
(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: David Redmon, Ashley Sabin; Stars: Nadya, Madlen, Ashley Arbaugh, Rachel Blais)
A scathing documentary exposé of an industry that trades in adolescent girls, as ugly as it sounds.
God Save My Shoes
(Country: USA; Year: 2011; Director: Julie Benasra; Writer: Julie Benasra; Stars: Manolo Blahnik, Kelly Rowland, Fergie, Beth Shak, Dita Von Teese)
What is it about shoes that drives some women crazy? This documentary aims to find out - in dazzling style.
Girl Model and Do It Yourself!
A Man's Story
(Country: UK; Year: 2010; Director: Varon Bonicos; Stars: Ozwald Boateng)
A look at the meteoric rise to fame of fashion designer Ozwald Boateng.
Salomé
(Country: USA; Year: 1923; Director: Charles Bryant; Stars: Mitchell Lewis, Alla Nazimova, Rose Dione)
Based on Oscar Wilde’s decadent play, Alla Nazimova and Charles Bryant’s Salomé tells the biblical story of King Herod and his execution of John the Baptist at the request of Salomé, his daughter and object of lust. A commercial flop on release back in 1923, the film now enjoys cult status. It is revered for its camp acting and for Natacha Rambova’s highly stylised Aubrey Beardsley-esque sets and costumes (many made with fabrics from Maison Lewis of Paris). The bold designs and the profusion of silver lamés, veils, turbans and peacock feathers make this a stunning visual treat. Screened with live piano accompaniment.
This screening is a preview for the Fashion in Film Festival which takes place at GFT in March.