Charlotte Zwerin (born Charlotte Mitchell, August 15, 1931January 22, 2004) was an American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and editor known for her work concerning artists and musicians. However, she is most known for her editing contributions to the direct cinema and

cinéma vérité Cinéma vérité (, , ; "truthful cinema") is a style of documentary filmmaking developed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about Kino-Pravda. It combines improvisation with use of the camera to unveil truth or ...

documentaries ''

Salesman Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...

'' (1969), ''

Gimme Shelter "Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. Released as the opening track from band's 1969 album ''Let It Bleed''. The song covers topics of war, murder, rape and fear. It features prominent guest vocals by American singe ...

'' (1970), and ''Running Fence'' (1978) in which she was given co-director credits along with the two cinéma vérité pioneers

Albert and David Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films i ...

Biography

Zwerin grew up in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. She studied at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

and established a film club there which sparked her interest in documentary filmmaking. After this, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and found a job with Drew Associates, who were pioneers of direct cinema in the United States. Here, she met and began to work with

. Zwerin went on to edit and co-direct two of the canonical

documentaries with the Maysles brothers: ''

'' and ''

.'' Zwerin died of lung cancer in January 2004 at her home in Manhattan, at the age of 72.

Career

Zwerin was an editor who worked on some of the canonical films of the

mode of documentary filmmaking including ''Salesman'' and ''Gimme Shelter.'' ''Salesman'' is concerned with following door-to-door

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

salesmen as they attempt to sell the greatest "best seller in the world." ''Gimme Shelter'' monitors the famous London rock band, ''

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

'', during their 1969 tour which culminated in the deadly

Altamont Free Concert The Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a counterculture rock concert in the United States, held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway outside of Livermore, California. Approximately 300,000 attended the concert, and some a ...

. The film has gained a great deal of notoriety, infamy and controversy for portraying a stabbing which resulted in the death of Meredith Hunter at the hands of the Hell's Angels, who were working as security for the concert. Zwerin directed several other documentaries with subjects such as

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

, "the brilliant and eccentric jazz pianist," the Armenian abstract painter

Arshile Gorky Arshile Gorky (; born Vostanik Manoug Adoian, hy, Ոստանիկ Մանուկ Ատոյեան; April 15, 1904 – July 21, 1948) was an Armenian-American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. He spent the last years of hi ...

, and the legendary singer

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

, among many others. Her last editing project was as story consultant on the 2003 documentary fil
''West 47th Street''
https://www.pbs.org/pov/west47thstreet/credits.php PBS P.O.V. West 47th Street Zwerin's work is often described as following the French documentary style of representation known as

. Her work is also emblematic of the direct cinema style.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1969) * ''

'' (1970) * ''Running Fence'' (1978) * ''De Kooning on de Kooning'' (1981) * ''Islands'' (1987) * ''Horowitz Plays Mozart'' (1987) * '' Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser'' (1989) * ''Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu'' (1994) * ''Sculpture of Spaces: Noguchi'' (1995) * ''Ella Fitzgerald: Something to Live For'' (1999)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zwerin, Charlotte 1931 births 2004 deaths American documentary film directors Artists from Detroit Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) Wayne State University alumni American women documentary filmmakers