Charlotte Zwerin | |
---|---|
Born |
August 15, 1931 Detroit, Michigan, United States |
Died | January 22, 2004 (aged 72) |
Cause of death | Lung Cancer |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Editor, director |
August 15, 1931
Charlotte Zwerin (born Charlotte Mitchell, August 15, 1931 – January 22, 2004) was an American documentary film director 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 documentaries Salesman (1969), Gimme Shelter (1970) and Running Fence (1978) in which she was given co-director credits along with the two cinéma vérité pioneers Albert and David Maysles.
Charlotte Zwerin grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She studied at Wayne State University and established a film club there which sparked her interest in documentary filmmaking. After this, she moved to New York City and found a job with Drew Associates who were the pioneers of direct cinema in the United States. Here, she met and began to work with Albert and David Maysles. Zwerin went on to edit and co-direct two of the canonical cinéma vérité documentaries with the Maysles brothers: Salesman and Gimme Shelter. Zwerin died of lung cancer in January 2004, at the age of 72.
Charlotte Zwerin was an editor who worked on some of the canonical films films of the cinéma vérité mode of documentary practice including, Salesman and Gimme Shelter. Salesman is concerned with following door-to-door Bible salesmen as they attempt to sell the greatest “best seller in the world.” Interestingly, at first, most viewers are appalled at the Bible-hustling, but soon begin to feel sympathy for these salesmen, particularly for one: Paul, who is the least successful salesman.Gimme Shelter monitors the tremendously famous London rock band, The Rolling Stones, during their 1969 tour which culminated in the deadly Altamont Free Concert. The film has gained a great deal of both notoriety and infamy for portraying a stabbing which resulted in a man's death, Meredith Hunter, at the hands of the Hell's Angels, who were working as security for the concert.