In Letter to the Editor, New York filmmaker Alan Berliner continues with his characteristic style of autobiographical documentary, use of found footage, and a very particular conception of irony and humour. Taking as his starting point his concern for the disappearance of printed newspapers, he composes an essay illustrated entirely by his incredible collection of photographs from The New York Times, archived over the last four decades.
Beginning with the title itself, the film plays with double meanings, making reference both to the “letters to the editor” section of a newspaper and to his work as a filmmaker. Drawing on a family tradition that includes his father and grandfather —both tailors, people with precise hands for cutting and “mending”—, the film reflects on how an image intended to illustrate a news story can also be a poem or a work of art.
Nicolás Carrasco