Legendary 87-year-old documentarian Albert Maysles is paired with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even in Iris' dotage, a soaring free spirit continues to inspire.
Albert Maysles died on 5 March 2015, but the 88-year-old documentarist bowed out with this masterly portrait of New York fashionista and interior designer Iris Apfel. Although Maysles is allowed to riffle through her Park Avenue closets and accompanies her on shopping trips, this shrewdly observed tribute to an unceasingly individual style icon is also a celebration of the 93-year-old's 67-year marriage to Carl, who turned 100 during the shoot. His 16mm home movies and countless photographs provide a record of Apfel's trademark outfits and the couple's biannual expeditions to all corners of the earth in search of inspiration, materials and artefacts. Amid the wittily wise maxims, Maysles also considers Apfel's restoration work for nine incumbents of the White House, her canny entrepreneurism and her public profile since becoming "an octogenarian starlet". Studded with admirers, this is less freewheelingly vérité than Maysles's best work, but it's every bit as distinctive and delightful as its subject.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Iris Apfel | Iris Apfel |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Albert Maysles |
