Filmmaker and TV producer Charlie Siskel talks about his new documentary Finding Vivian Maier the story of a highly accomplished photographer whose work remained secret for many years as she lived a low-key life working as a nanny in Chicago.
“People say in the film say that Vivian was very private and that she would have hated this – we include people who say that Vivian would have hated the attention – but these people are her employers, to them Vivian was the help.”
Siskel said he doesn’t know whether any of the families she worked for ever inquired about her work as a photographer, or whether they even took an interest in what she was doing with her camera.
“I think they weren’t that interested, ultimately. I think some of them did try to appreciate her in that way, but I don’t think they really saw her in that light,” he said, adding that most of the time it didn’t move beyond the normal employer-employee relationship.
“Vivian was quite well-educated – she seems to have been self-taught – but she was very worldly, and was fully aware of what was happening in the art world and what other photographers were doing, and was very well-read.”
Siskel also said that he wanted to approach the film as a true portrayal of Maier, with successes as well as her darker side.
“We did not want to sugar coat of airbrush the story, and present Vivian as a saint – she was not – by all accounts she was not a saint. But who among us is. I think she had an incredible sense of adventure, and a sense of humor, she was playful. But I think she did seem to have some sort of a darker past, and we really don’t know the nature of it.”
Watch the full episode to hear more about the film - which made it on the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary - and to also view clips from the movie.
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