What
killed Jean Carlomusto's grandmother? An illegal abortion, a burst blood
vessel, or an ectopic pregnancy? TO CATCH A GLIMPSE is an unorthodox investigative
report into the death of Rocca, a 45 year old Italian immigrant. Rocca
exists as an absence around which a history of Italian immigration, assimilation,
and motherhood is told. Medical records, family memories, and archival
film footage illustrate my reconstruction of her life. At the heart of
this portrait are the recollections of her six children. They convey the
pain of growing up motherless, as well as the refuge they sought in the fantasy
world of the ten cent matinee.
"TO
CATCH A GLIMPSE establishes the links between cinematic technology, the archive,
and death, suggesting the power of the moving image, stronger even than that
of the still image, to preserve familial affections"
Ann
Cvetkovich , author of An Archive of Feeling
Included
in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, NY.
VHS $19.95/DVD $24.95