THAT SUMMER

The mother-daughter duo who became pop culture fodder through Grey Gardens return in this new documentary featuring 16mm material taken amid the star-filled Hamptons summer of 1972, and then lost for 45 years.

Big Edie and Little Edie have had their lives transformed into star-driven biopics, Broadway musicals, drag queen performances and much more. But while the two are best known for their camp appearance in the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens, they were first set to appear on screen in another film entirely. Shooting began, but was soon halted after two directorial assistants, Albert and David Maysles, took over the project.

This visually rich documentary is a haunting ode to a lost era where the ideals of American society royalty crashed headfirst with the burgeoning creativity of the underground cinema movement. Director Göran Olsson (Concerning Violence, MIFF 2014; The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975, MIFF 2011) has seamlessly stitched this newly discovered footage together alongside equally fascinating material filmed at the same time by the likes of Andy Warhol, Jonas Mekas and Vincent Fremont.

"Engrossing … a memory piece about nostalgia itself."  – Hollywood Reporter