Regarding Susan Sontag
Director: Nancy Kates
Logline: Regarding Susan Sontag follows the life and work of the late author, critic, director and activist.
Synopsis: Susan Sontag (1933-2004) was a restless intellectual who wrote and spoke brilliantly on the important, the new, and the politically significant developments in American culture. Her 1964 essay “Notes on Camp” helped cement her reputation as a critical thinker. The essay was groundbreaking: up to that point in history, serious writers rarely wrote about popular culture. Similarly, her work on cancer and AIDS dared to confront “taboo” subjects, adding important insights in this arena that remain significant today. In a 1992 interview, Sontag summed up her career: “All my work says ‘be serious, be passionate, wake up!’”
Why should we care about Sontag, or watch a film about her? She was an enormously influential writer whose books sold millions of copies, and yet the public knows very little about her. Regarding Susan Sontag introduces Sontag to audiences unfamiliar with her work and life, while shedding new light on its subject. The goal is to make a film that shows Sontag in her complexity and her humanity, making connections between her life, her published work, and her activism.
Regarding Susan Sontag, a 90-minute documentary, reflects the boldness of Sontag’s work and the cultural import of her thought, through extraordinary archival footage and still photographs, riveting interviews, and a rich tapestry of pop culture artifacts. From her “screen tests” for Andy Warhol to her cameo in Woody Allen’s Zelig, she was interviewed, photographed, and filmed incessantly. With the publication of On Photography and other essays, she came to be known as one of the great critics of visual culture, interpreting the meaning of photography in consumer society and political discourse. The visual style of the film reflects her sophisticated understanding of the image. Regarding Susan Sontag allows viewers to look at Susan Sontag while she looks at the world. Sontag was often brilliant, frequently infuriating, and sometimes maddeningly obtuse, but she was invariably fascinating: a natural star.