NBC BAY AREA PROUD - San Mateo Woman Uncovers Long-Hidden Trove Of Dorothea Lange Photos

November 28th 2016

Chck out the very interesting article and video link below:

http://bit.ly/bap0403

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John Dixon, son of Maynard DIxon and Dorothea Lange, Passes Away at 88

August 4th 2016

John Eaglefeather Dixon, last surviving son of iconic American artists Dorothea Lange and Maynard Dixon, passed away on July 28, 2016 at the age of 88.  John and his older brother Daniel Rhodes Dixon were the subjects of my 2010 documentary “Child of Giants: My Journey with Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange.”   From the ages of four and seven, John and Daniel were placed in a series of foster homes, while Dorothea and Maynard created some of the most indelible American images of the 20th Century.  The collateral effects of those parental decisions -- to pursue art instead of family – was the focus of the film. 

As an adult, John became a contractor and a builder.  He would never have called himself an artist, but he often seemed to have the gentle soul of one.   May he Rest in Peace.  


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R.I.P. Rondal Partridge, 97, Photographer and Assistant to Dorothea Lange

June 29th 2015

Rondal Partridge passed away at his home in Berkeley on June 19 at the age of 97.  The son of photographer Imogene Cunningham and etcher Roi Cunningham, he assisted Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange while still in his teens, as he pursued his own career as a photographer.  He was with Dorothea when she took her famous photograph Migrant Mother in Nipomo, CA in 1936. 

A book of Rondal’s photographs, The Quizzical Eye, written by his daughter Elizabeth Partridge and Sally Stein, highlights his eccentric, critical and often humorous perspectives.  His work very much reflected the spirit of the man I had come to know and appreciate over the years. 

Rondal was a lifelong member of the extended Lange/Dixon family.  In fact, for years I was under the impression that he was somehow directly related to that sprawling clan.   When I interviewed him for my documentary Child of Giants: My Journey with Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange (www.childofgiants.com), he was full of colorful stories about working with Dorothea in the field and his relationship with her two sons, Daniel and John, for whom he was a virtually an older brother.

Many members of the extended family will especially miss his perfectly smoked Thanksgiving turkeys. 

http://lat.ms/1GLv9Kl

Ronald

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My New Documentary, "2e: Twice Exceptional," Premiering at RIFF

January 26th 2015

Hi, Friends --

My new documentary 2e: Twice Exceptional will have its World Premiere at the Richmond International Film Festival in Richmond, VA on February 26, 2015.  The film follows the extraordinary stories of a unique group of high school students in Los Angeles who have been identified as "twice exceptional" -- gifted or highly gifted kids with learning disabilities or differences.  Among them may be the next Einstein, Mozart or Steve Jobs... if they can survive the American school system and their own eccentricities.

For more information about screenings in your area and DVD availability, please visit our website at www.2emovie.com and sign up on our mailing list.  Thanks!

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ENCORE PERFORMANCE oF "CHILD OF GIANTS" ON KQED - EASTER SUNDAY 3/31/13

March 31st 2013

KQED in SF will a Special Encore Presentation of CHILD OF GIANTS on Sunday. March 31 at 5:30 PM.  For more information, check their website:

http://www.kqed.org/arts/programs/trulyca/episode.jsp?epid=248754

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"CHILD OF GIANTS" at the SEDONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (SIFF) - FEB. 23 - MARCH 3, 2013

February 9th 2013

CHILD OF GIANTS will have 2 screenings at the 19th Annual Sedona International Film Festival in Sedona, AZ:

MONDAY, FEB. 25 - 9 AM - Harkins Theater #1 (the perfect cure for that post-Oscar hangover!)

FRIDAY, MARCH 1 - 3:15 PM - Harkins Theater #5

 The desert vistas of Sedona should provide a wonderful backdrop for these screenings. I'll be there for a Q&A after the Friday afternoon screening. Hope to see you there! -- Tom

 

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"CHILD OF GIANTS" ON "ICONS OF AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY" BILL AT THE ROXIE IN SF ON MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24

August 23rd 2012

CHILD OF GIANTS will screen at the legendary Roxie Theater in San Francisco on Monday, September 24 at 7:30 PM.   Also on the bill is Jane Reed\'s terrific documentary PIRKLE JONES: SEVEN DECADES PHOTOGRAPHED: From Pictorial California to the Black Panther Party.  Lange and Jones famously collaborated on the photographic essay \"Death of a Valley\" which chronicled the destruction of the town of Monticello in the Berryessa Valley which followed the completion of the Monticello Dam.  Jane and I will conduct a joint Q&A after the films.  This should be fun!   Hope to see you there!

For more information about PIRKLE JONES, please go to www.jlrfilm.com.

For more information about the screening, please go to http://www.roxie.com.

 

 

 

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FUTURE ENDEAVOR: THE DIXON/LANGE FAMILY MUSEUM

July 4th 2012

Allow me to introduce myself – I am Leslie Dixon, granddaughter of Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange. I can be seen briefly in the film as an interview subject, and though I am a Hollywood screenwriter, I must admit that I had little influence over the content of the film – none of us family members did!

 

That’s all to the better. I think the film creates an honest portrait of my grandparents, and it is to its immense credit that none of my contentious family members have ever complained.

 

This seemed as good a spot as any to announce that “Child of Giants” has always been part of a larger endeavor. The idea that we descendants might create a small, personal family museum in San Francisco has been gestating for some time.

 

During the last two years, I have begun to put some of my ill-gotten Hollywood gains towards this idea. I have formed a 501-3 nonprofit foundation, and purchased a small building in San Francisco.  I’d long imagined the possibility of a lively and informal museum in North Beach – a museum not just to advance the appreciation of Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange as artists, but to present them as the of-the-moment bohemians that they were.

 

The museum will contain art, certainly – I’m very proud to have access to Maynard’s childhood drawings, never seen or exhibited elsewhere -- but it also will contain the artists’ memorabilia -- photos, letters, Indian rugs, pottery, articles of clothing, furniture  --- and probably a salacious story or two, offered  by the immediate family member who happens to be working the door that day.

 

Naturally, it will take some time to get this organization up and running -- my Hollywood career is not done – but having non-profit status, the inventory, and the building are a pretty good start. As the plan comes closer to fruition, I will be starting a web site, a Facebook page, and applying for grants.

 

For now, all you can do is salivate.

 

I hope, when all is said and done, that the place has user-friendly feel, as if you walked into one of their studios – I’m going to try to avoid the sterility of a formal museum installation. I want kids on field trips not to be bored. I also hope to host events in the space, especially for people/organizations who are simpatico with Dixon and Lange’s social sensibilities. Both my grandparents felt a keen sense of injustice on the behalf of people displaced by the Depression. Both, also, were handicapped, Dorothea from polio, and Maynard with asthma so severe that he was bedridden as a child. Any events I could host that further the uplifting of the underclass would make me quite proud.

 

I hope, within the next three years, to add this joyful, quirky little museum to San Francisco’s wildly diverse arts scene, and look forward to hosting parties/literary readings/music performances, and, if the license gods are with us, perhaps, eventually we will eventually offer food and wine!

 

Leslie Dixon

 

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CHILD OF GIANTS screenings in Ireland - March 30 - April 3

July 2nd 2012

Special thanks to Gerry Mullins, the Dublin-based author of Dorothea Lange's Ireland, who was instrumental in coordinating this trip.   Here's our screening schedule:

FRIDAY, APRIL 30 - DUBLIN, IRELAND - 8 PM - The Lighthouse Cinema, Smithfield, Dublin 7 - 8 PM

http://www.lighthousecinema.ie/

SUNDAY APRIL 1 - COUNTY CLARE - Viewfinders Film Festival - 3 PM

www.viewfindersfilmfestival.com

TUESDAY, APRIL 3 - DINGLE - Dingle Film Festival - Leslie Dixon Screenwriting Workshop - 2 PM - 4 PM; CHILD OF GIANTS screening at The Phoenix Cinema - 8 PM

http://www.dinglefilmfestival.com/

All screening will be followed by Q&A's, which I'm sure will be lively!

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CHILD OF GIANTS WINS "BEST DIRECTOR (DOCUMENTARY)" AWARD at the IFQ Film and New Media Festival

December 8th 2011

I'm pleased to announce that I was named "Best Director (Documentary)" at the Independent FIlm Quarterly Film and New Media Festival in New York City.   The film screened at the venerable Quad Cinema in the West Village on November 20.    Let's hope this leads to more East Coast screenings!

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CHILD OF GIANTS AT THE INDEPENDENT FILM QUARTERLY FILM & NEW MEDIA FESTIVAL - NOV. 17-24

October 27th 2011

Location: Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th Street, NY, NY 10011

Date: Sunday, November 20

Time: 2:05 PM

 

TICKETS & BOX OFFICE INFORMATION: Tickets are $12 in advance on www.ticketweb.com.  Guests can go to www.ticketweb.com and type in the name of your film’s title in the ‘search’ box or type in ‘IFQ’ . Or, guests can purchase tickets for $15 at the door (if the screening is not sold out). All screenings are open to the general public with tickets.

 


This is our first East Coast screening.   I’ll be there for a Q&A afterward.  I hope to see you there!  And please spread the word to family and friends in the area!

 

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UPCOMING SCREENINGS - CARMEL, HEARTLAND & TALLGRASS

October 3rd 2011

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Hi, Friends --

I'm happy to announce that October is shaping up to be a busy month for me and CHILD OF GIANTS.  Here's the schedule so far:

CARMEL, CA  - CARMEL FILM AND ART FESTIVAL:

Sunday, October 16 at 12:00 noon – Carmel Youth Center Main Theater – 4th and Torres St., Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921

I’ll be present for a Q&A afterward.

Please visit their website at www.carmelartandfilm.com

 

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – HEARTLAND FILM FESTIVAL:

Saturday, October 15 at 10:00 AM – AMC Showplace 17 – 6020 East 82nd St., Indianapolis, IN 46250

Wednesday, October 19 at 1:30 PM – AMC Castleton Square – 6020 East 82nd  St. , Indianapolis, IN 46250

Saturday, October 22 at 7:45 PM - AMC Showplace 17 – 6020 East 82nd St., Indianapolis, IN 46250

I’ll be present for Q&As after the Wednesday and Saturday sceeenings. 

Visit the Heartland websiite at www.trulymovingpictures.org

 

WICHITA, KANSAS – TALLGRASS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:

Friday, October 21 at 10:00 AM  & Sunday, October 23 at 11:00 AM -  Scottish Rite Theater – 332 E. 1st St., Wichita

I’ll be present for a Q&A afterward. 

Visit their website at www.tallgrassfilmfest.com

Please attend if you can, or spread the word to friends or family who might be interested.  Thanks!

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"CHILD OF GIANTS" NAMED "BEST FEATURE FILM" AT THE GLEN ROSE NEO-RELIX FILM FESTIVAL!

September 11th 2011

@font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Thanks to the Glen Rose Neo-Relix Film Festival in Glen Rose, Texas for naming "Child of Giants: My Journey with Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange" as BEST FEATURE FILM over Labor Day weekend.  Special thanks to Darrell Best and his terrific staff for putting together an exciting and eclectic slate of films and for the warm and generous hospitality they extended toward the visiting filmmakers.  This was definitely a fun time!

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"CHILD OF GIANTS" AT THE OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CA - THIS FRIDAY SEPT. 16 AT 7 PM

September 11th 2011

@font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } The museum was instrumental in the making of the film, giving me access to the 20,000+ prints and negatives from their Dorothea Lange Archive.   The screening will be in HDCAM -- if you've seen it before, you haven't seen it as gloriously crisp and colorful as this!  -- and is free with admission to the museum.   Many mambers of the extended Dixon/Lange family and friends will be in attendance, and we'll have a Q&A after the screening.   Hope to see you there!

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"CHILD OF GIANTS" AT THE 25th SANTA ROSA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - MONDAY, SEPT. 19

September 11th 2011

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We're screening at the Santa Rosa International Film Festival -- formerly the Wine Country Film Festival -- on Monday, September 19 at 5:00 PM at:

Summerfield Cinemas #2
551 Summerfield Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

Please visit their website at 
http://www.sriff.org for complete festival information.   Hope to see you there!

 

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CHILD OF GIANTS AT THE NEO-RELIX FESTIVAL IN GLEN ELLEN, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 2-4

August 20th 2011

CHILD OF GIANTS will screen at the NEO-RELIX FILM FESTIVAL this Labor Day weekend, Sept. 2-4.  This should be a really fun one.   Glen Ellen is not only the home of PauluxysaurusJonesi, the State Dinosaur of Texas, as well as the home of the last nuclear power plant built in the US, Comanche Peak -- it's also considered the "Moonshine Capital" of Texas!   Check out their website at:

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http://www.grnrff.com/index.html

I'll definitely be there!   If you've got any friends in the area, please spread the word!

 

Best, Tom

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CHILD OF GIANTS PREMIERES ON SAN FRANCISCO'S KQED - SUNDAY, JULY 24

July 15th 2011

CHILD OF GIANTS: My Journey with Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange will have its television broadcast premiere on KQED, San Francisco’s PBS affiliate, as part of its TRULY CA documentary series on Sunday, July 24 at 5:30 PM, with special Encore presentations on Monday, July 25 at 8:00 PM and Tuesday, July 26 at 2:00 AM.  (C’mon – it’s summer!  Who can sleep?!)

So please have screening parties, set your VCRS, or spread the word to friends or family in the Bay Area who might be interested in tuning in! Check your local channel listings or the KQED website at www.kqed.org for more information.

 

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CHILD OF GIANTS AT MAYNARD DIXON COUNTRY 2011

July 15th 2011

CHILD OF GIANTS will be featured at Maynard Dixon Country 2011, an annual gathering of international artists sponsored by The Thunderbird Foundation for the Art, located at Maynard Dixon’s historic former home and studio in Mt. Carmel, Utah.    MDC 2011 will take place on August 26-28 with a screening and symposium on the film on Saturday, August 27 at 2:30 PM at nearby Valley High School.   Please check out their website at www.thunderbirdfoundation.com for more information. 

 

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CHILD OF GIANTS AT THE OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CA - SEPTEMBER 16 at 7 PM

July 15th 2011

CHILD OF GIANTS will screen at the Oakland Museum of California on Friday, September 16 at 7 PM.   OMCA’s Executive Director Lori Fogarty and Curator of Photography Drew Johnson offered crucial assistance in the making of this film by allowing me access to the 20,000+ negatives gathered in their Dorothea Lange archive, so I’m thrilled to be able to screen the film in their newly-renovated James Moore Theater.    More details to come!  

 

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Read CHILD OF GIANTS REVIEW from BOOKLIST ONLINE

July 15th 2011

Booklist Online Exclusive: May 12, 2011
Child of Giants: My Journey with Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange.
Mar 2011. Cinema Guild, DVD, $99.95. (9780615405247).
The son of legendary photographer Dorothea Lange and renowned painter Maynard Dixon, Daniel Rhodes
Dixon struggled most of his life to find his place within his “irregular and extended” family. His mother’s
iconic depression-era photographs and his father’s vibrant Southwest-inspired paintings revealed the
people and culture of the times. Daniel found himself on uneven ground between the turbulence of two
radical and artistically driven parents and the socio-political upheaval of the country. In this well-produced
documentary, Daniel recalls his family’s unique history with an affection that has taken a lifetime to find.
He remembers his parent’s creative intensity and failed marriages (as well as his own) and his days in
boarding school and as a homeless vagabond. Daniel’s simple and honest reflections combine with
interviews with other family members to create a portrait as compelling as his mother’s stark photographs
and father’s soulful canvases.
— Elliot Mandel

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Read CHILD OF GIANTS REVIEW from USF, TAMPA - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

July 15th 2011

Reviewed by Rue McKenzie, University of South Florida, Tampa


ighly Recommended  Highly Recommended   
 
Date Entered: 5/20/2011

Child of Giants: My Journey with Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange immediately pulls the viewer into the world of two great artists from the perspective of their first born child. The personal stories told primarily by Daniel Rhodes Dixon reflect lives filled with creativity, uncertainty, passion, and, at times, despair. While providing an excellent overview of the paintings of Maynard Dixon and the photographs of Dorothea Lange, the family dynamics and social culture of the first half of the 20th century are the true focus of the documentary.

Maynard Dixon is best known for his portrayal of the American West through paintings. Dorothea Lange’s Depression-era photographs, and her visual account of the relocation of Japanese-Americans during World War II, are widely recognized for their discerning portrayal of the human condition. These two artistic and social nonconformists were also very complicated individuals, and having them as parents is documented as both challenging and, at times, rewarding. Daniel Dixon openly shares intimate and sometimes disturbing accounts of his life experiences as they relate to his parents and other family members. But he doesn’t focus on himself. The lives of his parents and other relatives are carefully examined with openness and sometimes with a touch of humor.

The program is clearly and carefully organized, with photographs, paintings, and film footage interspersed liberally throughout. This is a biographical, autobiographical, artistic, social, and historical documentary that is rich with information and engaging speakers. The unseen relationship between the filmmaker and all the interviewees reflects an honest and fluid documentary environment, which adds to the absorbing nature of the program. Daniel Dixon is a marvelous storyteller. It feels as though he is speaking directly to the viewer, and I felt sadness to learn of his passing at the end of the program.

Child of Giants is unique in its quality and broad appeal. The program can be readily recommended for personal enrichment, and is appropriate for course support in the study of Art, History, Humanities, Sociology, and American Studies.

Highly recommended 

 

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CHILD OF GIANTS AT THE NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL - THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 29 - SELECT GUEST LIST TICKE

April 26th 2011

CHILD OF GIANTS will screen at the 10th Annual NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL this Friday, April 29 at 3:00 PM at the Triangle Square 2 Theater, 1870 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa CA 92627.  I've still got several free VIP tickets available, so please let me know if you'd like to attend!  Or check out their website at www.newportbeachfilmfestival.com for tickets and details. 

i'll be there for a Q&A afterward.  Andy Dixon, one of Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange's grandsons, will also be there.  It's going to be a great time, so I hope you can attend.  And please pass the word along to anyone you know in the area!

 

 

 

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MORE DETAILS ABOUT UPCOMING SCREENINGS AT THE LAKE ARROWHEAD & NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVALS

April 2nd 2011

Saturday, April 16at 5:00 PM - 12th Annual Lake Arrowhead Film Festival (April 14-17) - in the Evergreen Theater at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, 27984 Highway 189, Lake Arrowhead CA 92352.  For tickets and more info, please check out their website at www.lakearrowheadfilmfestival.com.

Friday, April 29 at 3:00 PM - 10th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival (April 28-May 5) - at the Triangle Square 2 Theater, 1870 Harbor Boulevard, Costa Mesa CA 92627.  For tickets and info, check out their website at www.newportbeachfilmfestival.com. 

I'll be there for Q&As after both of these screenings.   Hope you can make it!  And please pass the word along if you have friends in these areas.

 

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NOTES FROM SCREENINGS AT BYU AND SALT LAKE CITY

March 9th 2011

Thanks to all of you who came out to see the film at the Museum of Art at BYU on Thursday, February 17.  It was especially gratifying to screen the film while the museum is presenting a pair of extraordinary exhibitions -- a presentation of photos from Dorothea's THREE MORMON TOWNS series for "Life Magazine" (for which her son Daniel provided text) and WIDE OPEN SPACES, which explores how various artists tackle the challenge of capturing the grandeur of nature on canvas and features several rarely-seen major works by Maynard Dixon.   It's well worth the trip.  Many thanks to Diana Turnbow, Curator of Photgraphy for the BYU Museum of Art for organizing the event.

And a very special thanks to Bruce Bell and Paul & Susan Bingham of the Thunderbird Institute who organized the screening on Sunday, Feb. 20 at the stunning Salt Lake City Library.  I was really nervous that morning when I woke up to find the city socked by a blizzard.  Friends Rebecca Batt and Randy Hart who put me up for the weekend assured me that the local folk were hearty stock and wouldn't be put off by this, but I was dubious.  So it was heartening to find a very nearly full theater of about 300 in attendence to see the film, most of whom stayed for the Q&A.  We all exited the theater to bright sunshine, so the day was a complete success all around!

 

 

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CHILD OF GIANTS TO SCREEN AT THE LAKE ARROWHEAD AND NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVALS

March 9th 2011

I'm thrilled to announce that the film has been accepted into the LAKE ARROWHEAD FILM FESTIVAL (April 14-17) and the NEWPORT BEACH FILM FESTIVAL (April 28-5/5).  More details about these screening soon!

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CHILD OF GIANTS TO AIR ON KQED IN SAN FRANCISCO

February 2nd 2011

@font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } I've just learned that CHILD OF GIANTS is one of eight films that has been selected to air on KQED's "Truly California" documentary series later this year.   KQED is San Francisco's PBS affiliate.    The series runs monthly on Sunday nights from April through November.  It's usually a 1-hour time slot, but they've decided to extend it to 90 minutes for CHILD OF GIANTS.     Stay tuned for more info!

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CHILD OF GIANTS TO SCREEN AT BYU & BONUS SCREENING IN SLC

February 2nd 2011

@font-face { font-family: "Arial"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } CHILD OF GIANTS will screen at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT (which houses the largest collection of artwork by Maynard Dixon in the country) in conjunction with their new exhibition "Dorothea Lange's Three Mormon Towns" which will be running from January 20 through April 30, 2011.

This screening will be held on Thursday, February 17 at 7:00 PM in the MOA Auditorium.  

The film will also screen on Sunday, February 20 at 1:30 PM at the Salt Lake City Library Auditorium.   Admission is free.  

I'll be in attendance for a Q&A after both screenings, so if you're in the area or know someone who might be interested, please spread the word!

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CHILD OF GIANTS JUST ADDED AS CLOSING NIGHT SCREENING AT THE RED ROCK FESTIVAL IN ZION CANYON, UT!

November 4th 2010

CHILD OF GIANTS: My Journey with Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange has just been added as a Special Closing Night Screening at the Red Rock Film Festival in Zion Canyon, UT!  The film will be screened on Sunday, November 14 at 6:30 PM at:

1 Zion Lodge
Seminar Room
Springdale, UT 84767-9600

The Red Rock Film Festival has been named one of the "25 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee" in 2009 by MovieMaker Magazine in spectacular Zion National Park -- just a two hour drive from Vegas!   I'll be there for a Q&A afterward.   You can check out more information on their website:  www.redrockfilmfestival.com. ;

I hope to see you there.   And if you know anyone in the area who might be interested, please pass this message along!

 

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Read Review in Daily Variety

October 23rd 2010

Mill Valley

 

Child of Giants: My Journey With Maynard Dixon & Dorothea Lange

 (Docu)

By DENNIS HARVEY

 

A Tom Ropelewski production. Produced, directed by Ropelewski.
 
With: Daniel Rhodes Dixon, John Dixon, Leslie Dixon, Gregor Dixon, Rondal Partridge, Christina Gardner, Donald Fanger.
 

Genius is readily appreciated on a gallery wall or around a dinner table, but it can be hard going in the role of parent. That's one lesson learned from "Child of Giants," a son's-eye view of two iconic 20th-century American artists, painter Maynard Dixon and photographer Dorothea Lange. Tom Ropelewski's docu affords a skillful overview of their work and influence while measuring the toll taken on impressionable young minds they tried to mold in their own image. Artscasters rep a natural destination before a long classroom shelf life.

 

The celebrated duo's Western-style bohemianism, modernist aesthetics and liberal politics influenced their personal lives in unpredictable ways. Money-pinched in the early Depression, they more or less abandoned their offspring to foster homes for long stretches to focus on their careers. Once that ended (and Lange left Dixon for Berkeley economist Paul Schuster), the boys were subject to idiosyncratic yet demanding educational and other regimes. While younger John coped via passive cooperation, Daniel (the primary interviewee here) rebelled, at one point preferring homelessness to Mom's strict rule, though they reconciled and became close later on. Plentiful archival materials illustrate this engaging, well-crafted chronicle.

 

Camera (color/B&W, HD), Skip Sweeney; editors, Martina Nagel, Paul Dixon; music, Richard Chon. Reviewed on DVD, San Francisco, Sept. 29, 2010. (In Mill Valley Film Festival -- Valley of the Docs.) Running time: 97 MIN.
 

 

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Read Review in San Francisco Magazine

October 23rd 2010

San Francisco Magazine - October, 2010

Snap Judgements

FILM
CHILD OF GIANTS
“This is a ghost story,” the late Daniel Dixon tells an interviewer early on in Child of Giants. “Almost without exception, the members of our family are haunted by Maynard and Dor­othea.” Dixon, the child of the film’s title, is referring to his parents, painter Maynard Dixon and photographer Dorothea Lange. And he’s right about the haunting: Producer-director Tom Rop­el­ewski, here making his feature-documentary debut, is Daniel Dixon’s son-in-law—that sense of hauntedness, maybe even a low-boiling obsession, makes Child of Giants more than just a glor­ified home movie. For Lange and Dixon, a onetime San Francisco power couple, the anguished years of the Great Depression proved creatively formative; for their children, that same period was merely anguished. Neither Daniel Dixon nor Ropelewski is the perfect steward of this personal history—the film’s structural choppiness elides some seemingly crucial exposition—but Ropelewski’s access couldn’t be more intimate. If you’re after great visuals, such as Maynard Dixon’s series of early Sunset magazine covers or his stirring post-divorce abstractions, along with a trove of rarely seen Lange photos, you’ll find that Child of Giants delivers the goods. Catch it, along with several other films of local interest, at this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival, which runs October 7–17. 

—JONATHAN KIEFER

 

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CHILD OF GIANTS TO SCREEN AT THE 2010 RED ROCK FILM FESTIVAL IN NOVEMBER

October 23rd 2010

We're screening next at the Red Rock Festival in Zion Canyon, UT (where Maynard Dixon actually painted!)   The festival runs from November 11-14.  Our time and date are still to be determined.  More information soon!

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San Francisco Bay Guardian Article On Docs at the Mill Valley Film Fest

October 20th 2010

The San Francisco Bay Guardian wrote an article about several documentary films shown at the 2010 Mill Valley Film Festival, including CoG.

 

San Francisco Bay Guardian

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Pat Saperstein writes about CHILD OF GIANTS in

October 18th 2010

This article by Pat Saperstein appeared in the weekend edition of "Variety" on Oct. 16.   Click on the link below to read it.

Doc Probes Artists' Family

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CHILD OF GIANTS at MVFF - The Recap

October 18th 2010

I just returned from a wonderful week at the Mill Valley Film Festival.  The MVFF staff was warm and gracious, and I met lots of terrific filmmakers.  Child of Giants played two sold-out shows to very enthusiastic audiences.   Afterward I was invited by Matt Marxteyn, the Festival Director of the Red Rock Film Festival in Zion Canyon, UT to screen the film there.  The RRFF was ranked by MovieMaker Magazine as one of the "25 Festivals Worth the Fee" in 2009.   This year it take place on November 11-14.   I'm thrilled to be able to screen the film in an area that Maynard Dixon knew well and painted often.  I hope you can attend -- it's only a two and a half hour drive from Las Vegas!

Once the pressure was off I got to enjoy a week-long filmglut, and saw lots of great films -- Chris Metzler & Lev Anderson's EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE, Feo Aladag's WHEN WE LEAVE, Emiko Omori's ED HARDY:"TATOO THE WORLD", Alain Corneau's LOVE CRIME, Chris Brown's FANNY, ANNIE & DANNY, Nancy Keyy's TRUST: SECOND ACTS IN YOUNG LIVES, and Wanuri Kahiu's FROM A WHISPER among them.  Total heaven -- 2 to 4 films a day!

 

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