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Director/Writer/Producer/Editor/Cinematographer (contemporary footage)
A LETTER WITHOUT WORDS is Lisa Lewenz's first film. Her award-winning multimedia arts projects have been widely exhibited throughout the U.S. Lewenz's work has been recognized for its merit including: three consecutive Fulbright Research Fellowships to Germany; two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships; a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship to Berlin; the 1989 Ferguson Award; the Baltimore Mayor's Commission Fellowship; numerous state arts fellowships; and residency fellowships to LaNapoule, France and Amherst College, among others. She received wide critical acclaim for her photographic documentaries 1984: A View from Three Mile Island; Towards a More Perfect Union and Idol Worship/Idle Warship. In addition, Lewenz taught at New York University, the University of Illinois, and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and was commissioned for documentary research in Germany for CBS News and the Discovery Channel. She has worked as a project director with the artist Christo and as programming assistant for filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow. Lewenz holds a BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago (where her film studies began and ended with two film history courses taught by filmmaker Stan Brakhage) and a MFA from CalArts. Lewenz was born in Baltimore, Maryland.
Ella Arnhold Lewenz (July 12, 1883-July 5, 1954)
Cinematographer (historical footage)
Born in Dresden, Ella began experimenting with photography in Germany during the early 1900s. She married Hans Leo Lewenz in Berlin in 1909 and moved to that city, which remained her home until December of 1938. Her former residence is now the Standesamt Charlottenburg von Berlin, Alt-Lietzow 28, and her family's vacation home was in Kladow, on the outskirts of Berlin. After learning how to process her own film, Ella started making 16mm films sometime during the mid-1920s. Eventually, she and her camera became inseparable, and although she was unknown as a filmmaker during her lifetime, her work represents one of the more important personal archives of her time. Ella Lewenz was one of the few women known to document the first half of this century in movies, diaries and photographs. A mother of six, she also edited, titled and dated her films. Her archive which includes about twenty hours of previously hidden footage, recorded family and friends, as well as many important figures in science, the arts, religion, and politics. Ella's work remained in the family attic for almost thirty years following her death in New York shortly after her last visit to Germany in 1954. Her archive remained unseen until 1981, when it was discovered by her granddaughter, Lisa. Ella's family members have attended public screenings of the film and have spoken during the subsequent question/answer sessions.
EDITORS:
Penelope Falk studied at the University of Chicago and received her MFA from the University of Texas. She recently completed work on the ITVS/PBS FRONTLINE series An American Love Story (fall, 1998); worked on Daufuskie Island by Michael Harlow; and also Chanceman's Brothers and Sisters by Vera Aranow.
Anand Kamalakar received his Bachelors Degree from Osmania University and a Masters from the University of Hyderabad in India. He received a second Masters Degree from SI Newhouse School of Public Communications. His credits include Mysteries of Deep Space for WNET and his own award-winning documentary Legal Alien.
Lisa Lewenz had never edited before working on this project. The complexity and personal nature of the film, paired with a tight production budget made it essential for her to become significantly involved as project editor.
Ruth Schell studied at the Paris Film School and the Sorbonne. Her credits include A Life Apart: Hasidim in America; Leonard Bernstein on Mount Scopus; Vietnam, A Television History; and Making Sense of the Sixties.
Susan Peehl received a MFA from CalArts. She was editor and co-author on Jean Bach's Oscar-nominated A Great Day in Harlem, as well as Bach's recent Sundance short The Spitball Story.
ORIGINAL SCORE:
Bob Telson composed and produced the original tango music for the film. Telson's numerous credits include music for dance and film, representing a vast number of styles. His recordings have been used in Twyla Tharp's Sextet, and his film credits include the music for Percy Adlon's Salmonberries and Bagdad Cafe. Telson's tangos and ambient piano music was recorded especially for the film at the Serious Sound studios in New York.
Lewis Spratlan: The Amherst-based composer collaborated with Lisa Lewenz to create four classical works in the film, including Exile; Cladow Waltz, a series of Duos and a fugue based on Lewenz's melodies. Best known for his classical compositions and recordings of new music, Spratlan heads the music program at Amherst College.
Paul Bartholomew: This London-based composer worked with Lisa Lewenz to arrange her improvisations and included his own work in the film. An active performer and composer, Bartholomew has scored for dance and television; performed with Sting and Cher; and teaches at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music. Bartholomew and Lewenz's collaborative score was recorded at the LondonBarty's Basement studios.
Raul Jaurena: composed and played the bandoneon tango music in the film. "New York Gotan" and "Tristesa" were recorded especially for A Letter Without Words at the New YorkSerious Sound studios.
Linda Mark: is best known as a pianest who plays with various quartets in and beyond the New York City area. Her recordings of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholody's music were made especially for the film at the Serious Sound studios in New York. The selections from Mendelssohn'sSongs Without Words: included: Op. 6, #6 in G minor (Venetian Gondola Song); Op. 30 #6 in F sharp minor (Venetian Gondola Song; Op. 85 No 4 in D (Elegy); and Op. 85 no 2 in A minor (Adieu).
ABOUT ITVS
The Independent Television Service is a unique part of American broadcasting created to increase the diversity of programming available to public television audiences and to bring vision to a medium often dominated by convention, commercialism and formula. In the last five years, twenty-five ITVS-funded programs premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, including last year's Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner Girls Like Us by Jane C. Wagner and Tina DiFeliciantonio. Other Sundance award-winning programs include Black Is...Black Ain't by Marlon Riggs; Coming Out Under Fire by Albert Dong; and When Billy Broke His Head...And Other Tales of Wonder by Billy Golfus and David Simpson. In 1997, Alan Berliner's ITVS film, Nobody's Business screened and won at the Berlin Film Festival. ITVS holds the American Television rights to A Letter Without Words which will be broadcast on PBS on April 5, 1999 at 10pm (check local listings for exact dates and times). Contact Cathy Fischer at ITVS (415) 356-8383x224 for more information regarding their innovative programming for television.
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