Today
Experimental
•
57m
Directed by Su Friedrich • Documentary • 2022 • 57 minutes
TODAY opens with filmmaker Su Friedrich’s left foot stretched out in front of her as she lies in bed. Overhead, a ceiling fan whirs. Friedrich takes another deep breath and says to no one in particular, “Try to pay attention to the moment".
Friedrich is a pioneering queer filmmaker who has been making ground-breaking personal films for decades. In TODAY, she again eschews conventional narrative, observing her world over a six-year period. It’s a time that includes a country vacation and a city cookout. Also the loss of loved ones and the spread of a pandemic—plus the brightness of flowers, both real and fake.
Choice morsels of documentary footage from the neighborhood of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn and beyond are augmented with her wry observations and witty on-screen text in this casual, engrossing portrait of daily life.
Friedrich thought that using her camera to ‘live in the moment’ would give her access to seeing the wonders of the world, but instead it meant she saw exactly what was in front of her, be it devastating or uplifting.
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