Alan Berliner on His doc, "BENITA"

"which is why, after she took her own life at the height of the COVID lockdowns in 2021, her grieving family turned to the master documentarian to finish her last film. It was an impossible task since, as Berliner put it, "I could never duplicate the mystery and beauty that Benita always brought to her work." So instead of completing a final act, Berliner chose to craft a collaboration, a magical cinematic conversation of sorts, between himself and his mentee."

"Benita Raphan was a NYC filmmaker (and a MacDowell fellow in 2004 and a Guggenheim fellow in 2019) best known for her own short portraits of eccentric artists, from John Nash, to Buckminster Fuller, to Emily Dickinson. After graduating from the School of Visual Arts, Raphan crossed the pond to earn her MFA from London's Royal College of Art; and would go on to spend a decade as a graphic designer in Paris before returning home in the mid-'90s to teach at her alma mater."

Alan Berliner presents BENITA, an unconventional portrait of filmmaker and designer Benita Raphan. Raphan earned an MFA from London's Royal College of Art, worked as a graphic designer in Paris for a decade, and taught at the School of Visual Arts after returning to New York. Her shorts profiled eccentric artists and earned MacDowell and Guggenheim fellowships, as well as inclusion in major museum collections. Raphan considered Berliner a key mentor and close friend. After Raphan died during the COVID lockdowns in 2021, her family asked Berliner to finish her last film; Berliner instead created a collaborative cinematic conversation between mentor and mentee.

Read at Filmmaker Magazine