The director of iconic documentaries Grey Gardens (about Jackie O’s relatives and the racoons running round their decrepit house) and Gimme Shelter (which followed the Rolling Stones on the road) has created a new film about Iris Apfel, one of New York’s most flamboyant dressers. Sadly Maysles passed away last week, aged 88, but his film, Iris, will be coming out in cinemas from May. The film looks set to go beyond Apfel’s surface style, exploring her creativity, her love of market stalls, her marriage and her upbringing in Queens during the Great Depression. Photographer Bruce Weber, teen media queen Tavi and the Met Museum’s Harold Koda all make appearances, but it’s Iris and her quips that are the stars of the show.
Albert Maysles’s daughter Rebekah (also a producer of the film) has said that making the film was a magical experience. “My father was always interested in making portraits of people, of them just being who they were. He really loved working with Iris. I would often stand aside and see him nudge her and say something sweet about how he really liked shooting her. I would catch him saying things to her like ‘we’re getting good stuff,’ or as she was walking back to her bedroom he’d give her the thumbs up. We were a small team and liked being in each other’s company.”
Magnolia Pictures will release Iris in New York on April 29, Los Angeles on May 1 and additional cities throughout May.