Top 20 Alternative Picks for TIFF 2013: Charlie Siskel & John Maloof’s Finding Vivian Maier

Charlie Siskel & John Maloof’s Finding Vivian Maier

Section: TIFF Docs
Dates: Monday 9th, Tuesday 10th

Buzz: In the case of Finding Vivian Maier, pedigree is not the source of promise. Co-director Charlie Siskel’s biggest credit to date remains the executive producer of Tosh.0, while this film will be co-director John Maloof’s foray into cinema, period. Vivian Maier herself, the subject/artist/recluse/spy(?) serves as an effortlessly intriguing point of departure. Working as a nanny, living alone, and traveling the world for decades with camera in hand, she crafted a monumental body of work and spoke of it to no one. It wasn’t until Maloof purchased an unopened chest of departed belongings at auction that Maier’s collection of photographs and filmic creations saw the light of day. Siskel and Maloof’s mystery-bound profile (check out the trailer) seems to follow in the footsteps of Jessica Yu’s In the Realms of the Unreal, unearthing an insatiable artist who lived a double life and found immortality in their creations.

The Gist: Vivian Maier was a mystery even to those who knew her. A secretive nanny in the wealthy suburbs of Chicago, she died in 2009 and would have been forgotten. But John Maloof, an amateur historian, uncovered thousands of negatives at a storage locker auction and changed history.