The dark side of Vivian Maier

“In 2007, while I was writing a book about my neighborhood in Chicago, I wondered where I would find the photographs to illustrate the volume: so I decided to try my luck by going to an auction house. There I bought a box full of negatives, which I never used for the book.” This is how director John Maloof describes his chance meeting with Vivian Maier, the author of the negatives in question. And precisely that purchase “brought to light one of the most important “street photography” collections of the 20th century”, continues Maloof who therefore decided to dedicate the documentary Finding Vivian to the author – now acclaimed throughout the world Maier, broadcast on Sunday 21 April on Sky Arte. “Why had he hidden his photos and his personal life from the world? Who the hell was this woman who was starting to seem like a “mythological” figure,” the filmmaker, photographer and historian asks again in the director’s notes of the film that he wrote, directed and produced with Charlie Siskel. Presented at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and included in the 2014 Berlinale Official Selection, the film “reveals a dark side of Maier, darker than she would have liked to show others (and than she was previously known). ). This, however, is only part of her story. Her works today are part of the history of photography and are an undeniable treasure,” notes Siskel.