FILM SCREENING - Frank Lloyd Wright: Phoenix From the Ashes

The documentary tells the moving life of Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), America's best-known architect with hitherto unknown footage. Frank Lloyd Wright was a genius, self-promoter, admired teacher, and failed businessman. With the Guggenheim Museum and Fallingwater, the house built over a waterfall, he created architectural icons. In 70 years, he designed over 1000 buildings of which 500 were realized. In July 2019, eight of these structures have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. "I am the greatest architect who ever lived," it is said he once boasted. "Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility: I chose the former and have seen no reason to change." He knew no compromise, either in his professional or his private life. Behind this was a sensitive and warm-hearted person, who never bowed to social morals but who sought and found his ethics in nature. For him, a house should appear as if it had grown out of its surroundings. Today we call this "Organic Architecture."  Wright is an architectural genius whose life could be a feature film. He survived scandals, murders, fire, divorces, bankruptcies, and social disdain. Time and time again he rose like a phoenix from the ashes.

The documentary portrays his life and his works with film footage, photos and conversations with biographers, art historians and the author T.C. Boyle, who lives in a Wright house and wrote a bestseller about the master's significant others, The Women. All the interviews were filmed inside Wright buildings. Wright himself speaks to us in interviews from the Fifties, and in quotes from his autobiography. Animations tell scenes from his life with a twinkle in the eyes.   

Runtime of 53 minutes, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.

This film screening is free with a recommended cash donation of $10 at the door. 

About the Filmmaker

Dr. Sigrid Faltin studied English, German, and history in Bonn and Freiburg. Her Ph.D. thesis was on the “Emigration from the Palatinate to the United States“ in Modern History. After training as a regional correspondent with the German public TV station SWF, she worked as a host for radio and TV. Today she is a documentary film director, writer and producer. She has received several international awards for her films, among them several New York Film Festival awards. She is at home in Freiburg, Germany.

Silver medal (Biographies) at the New York Festivals 2021

Best Feature Documentary Legendary Doc Film Festival 2021