Closing Night: “Sr.”

Guests Expected

Director Chris Smith and producer/participant Robert Downey Jr. are expected to attend.

Description

This loving portrait of filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. captures his life and body of work in its uncompromising singularity. Over the course of several interviews with director Chris Smith, Downey Sr. discusses moving from the world of underground cinema to mainstream Hollywood, the difficulties of parenting in an environment rife with temptations, and his various romantic relationships. His son Robert Downey Jr. (a co-producer of the film) provides loving and meaningful context, eliciting personal stories from a life well-lived. These conversations are deftly juxtaposed with clips from several of Sr.’s films, including his beloved, must-see satirical masterpiece Putney Swope (1969).

PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Director Chris Smith

Chris Smith directed American Movie (1999), which won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at Sundance. His film Jim & Andy: the Great Beyond played at Doc Stories in 2017. The six-part docuseries 100 Foot Wave, about big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara, premiered on HBO in July 2021 and the four-part Netflix series Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. premiered in March 2022.

Film Details