The September Issue : A Vogue / Anna Wintour Documentary

[diorelle]

^ I know right? I've been waiting for it ever since I first read about it!

 

[waxy]

i wish there was a preview! not a big fan of anna, but this documentary excites me.

 

[Fiercification]

SOOOOOOOOO excited to see this

 

[liberty33r1b]

when is Sundance?

 

[liberty33r1b]

when is Sundance?

 

[MissMagAddict]

Source | Women's Wear Daily | January 15th

VOGUE ON FILM — AT LAST: Filmmaker R.J. Cutler may not have intended his film about Vogue, “The September Issue,” to chronicle the last hurrah of the luxury boom, but as it turns out, his eight months of inside access to Anna Wintour and her team as they prepared Vogue’s biggest issue ever, September 2007, came just before the economy (and the magazine industry’s ad pages) took a nosedive. The film, which draws from 300 hours of footage, screens at Sundance this weekend, and Wintour will attend the premiere. “I’m thrilled she’s supporting the film, which is a reflection of how she feels about it,” Cutler told WWD.

Cutler has said it was Wintour’s idea to frame the film around the creation of the September issue, and that he had final cut over the footage. “My observation with the creativity in the hallways and offices is that Vogue is like the mist. You don’t think it’s raining and all of a sudden you’re soaking wet,” Cutler said.

In addition to exploring Vogue’s work process, “The September Issue” delves into Wintour’s relationships with her late father, legendary British newspaper editor Charles Wintour, and daughter Bee Shaffer, as well as with creative director Grace Coddington. Cutler said Coddington was particularly resistant to the camera crews at first. “She couldn’t throw us out of the building because she’s not the boss,” he recalled. “Anna’s the boss and she had invited us in. But she was unhappy to see us. And when Grace is unhappy to see you, that’s not the place anyone wants to be. God bless her, she [eventually] gave us a chance.”

Thakoon Panichgul has a particularly prominent role, and there are appearances by Oscar de la Renta, Patrick Demarchelier, Karl Lagerfeld, Nicolas Ghesquière, Jean Paul Gaultier, Stefano Pilati, Phillip Lim and Isabel Toledo, among others.

There is a moment in the film when Wintour contemplates the end of her career, the subject of more than one recent — and oft-denied — rumor. Cutler was cagey: “I have to let the film speak for itself on that.”

 

[MissMagAddict]

Source | Women's Wear Daily | January 20th

ANNA’S MOUNTAIN HIGH: At a Sundance Film Festival crammed with films about the human condition, international political strife and old-fashioned romance, a documentary about the fashion world is causing the biggest buzz. “The September Issue,” R.J. Cutler’s two-year-long project about the making of Vogue’s September 2007 edition, oversold at its Friday premiere and three public screenings between Friday and Sunday, and its press and industry screening played to a packed house on Saturday. There are two more screenings on Wednesday and Sunday. The 89-minute film will air this year on A&E at a yet to be determined date.

Several people who bought tickets to the Friday premiere in Salt Lake City, a 45-minute drive from the festival headquarters in Park City, were turned away because there were more ticket holders than available seats.

One studio executive who paid for tickets, which cost several hundred dollars each, said the $5,000 all-access pass holders get precedence at any screening, and if all of them happen to be interested in a particular movie, then ticket holders are out of luck. Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour arrived late into town so she didn’t make Friday’s premiere, but did show up at the late-night premiere of the Mexican soccer comedy “Rudo y Cursi,” starring Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal, and a casual dinner on Main Street. She attended a public screening of her magazine’s documentary on Saturday afternoon, held in a converted temple and, along with publisher Tom Florio and Cutler, walked a mini press line set up in an upstairs reading room, shielded from any uninvited paparazzi. And the obvious question about the editor of a major fashion magazine was: What was she wearing? Wintour, clad in a leather Michael Kors jacket with a fox collar, an Oscar de la Renta turtleneck, J Brand jeans and Manolo Blahnik boots, said she was “channeling mountain casual. It is actually my first time wearing jeans to work.” But a relaxed Wintour was quick to deflect the spotlight back to Cutler, who also produced the award-winning documentaries “The War Room” and “A Perfect Candidate.”

“This is very much R.J.’s film. I want to make it very clear that he had complete freedom to put together the movie that he wanted and it’s not in any way Vogue behind him telling him what he can and cannot do,” she said. Asked if she placed any restrictions on filming or editing, Wintour replied, “He showed us the film a little while ago and we made a few suggestions, all of which he ignored.”

For his part, Cutler said, “I don’t know that I’ve ignored them all but I will say that everyone was incredibly supportive of my vision and also very open with their opinions.”

The film has garnered mostly positive reviews, though some have commented that Vogue appeared to be given the kid-glove treatment due to the admiring portrayals of Wintour and creative director Grace Coddington. September 2007 cover girl Sienna Miller didn’t fare as well, drawing criticism for her hair and teeth (pre-hairstyling and retouching). Also featured is Thakoon Panichgul, as the film recorded Wintour’s support of him through the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund GAP collaboration, editing his white shirt sketches, and revealed how she brokered a well-paid consulting gig for him at the Spanish company Mango. “I’m always fascinated by people who are very good at what they do,” said Cutler. “I learned that the fashion industry is a lot of things. It’s glamorous and workaday, exhilarating and exhausting, exciting and thrilling, and rewarding and tough.”

When asked if Wintour intimidated him at their first meeting, Cutler said, “You try to focus on your curiosity. But I wore all new clothes and I got my first manicure.”

 

[MissMagAddict]

LIVE 09: An Issue of Trust

During the making of The September Issue, fashion icon Anna Wintour trusted director R.J. Cutlers documentary-filmmaking instincts, even when they guided him to ignore every single comment Wintour made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EldsfSwY3Pg

 

[ShesElectric]

MissMagAddict, that was so great, thank you for that!

Well, I certainly am excited to see this film - I just wish it wasn't to be seen on such a broad spectrum as international release on the big screen...

I'm a little bit worried about how far the entire 'marketing process' might go before and after the film and the new fans 'the glamorous fashion industry' might acquire.

I know that it is a documentary but let's face it, fashion is an industry that is portrayed to be 'glamorous'. Whether it really is or it isn't, the product of the industry is idolized at large by the teen girl market and not for the passion and making of fashion as an industry, but for the image of it as 'cool'.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm a little bit worried about the end result of the film in a social context. It's most definitely going to be seen by many many many people out there (let's combine the success in number of movie-goers who saw the Devil Wears Prada and the Sex & the City Movie). Although there may have been a motive to see these films BEYOND the glamorous portrayal of fashion and anything linked to it by young, hip movie-goers, no doubt they walked away from each film with a false appreciation for fashion just based on the image that strolls alongside it; and will jump at the chance to see this film as well.

I just hope we don't all walk away from this movie with a truckload of new 'fashion faux-fans' who will add to the stereotype that already follows those of us who actually work in and/or appreciate the industry for what it really is. Not to mention the number of people who are going to walk away from his film thinking only, "Vogue is so cool, Anna is so cool, I wanna work in fashion"; rather than taking away from the film the passion that is put into this industry by every one of us who work in it or follow it. Thus, will there be a huge number of new Vogue fans? I think so.

I also think a number of them will be fans under false pretences. We all know how marketing works; we all know how easy it is to acquire new fanatics with just a little publicity scheme or marketing ploy here or there... I mean for Christ’s sake, I bought a $5 bottle of Jean Paul Gaultier Evian water from the grocer's yesterday because I thought - well, I may not be able to afford a Gaultier every season but I can certainly afford a pretty glass Gaultier bottle. Even I fall for the schemes every now and then; we're all guilty of it.

However, fashion has a much younger generation that idolizes it for something that it is not; or at the very least, for something that is only on the surface. If American Vogue picks up a new number of readers because of this film and the glamour that it may portray is associated with the magazine or it's editor-at-large, will Vogue then move to accommodate this new fan base? Especially with the February '09 issue surrounding change, not the mention a younger, irrelevant cover girl. After all, U.S Vogue needs all the help is can get these days...

 

[TREVOFASHIONISTO]

so do we have news on when it is coming to A&E?

 

[Deslin]

I am so excited!

 

[pinkcouture]

I can't wait to see this!!!

 

[diorrnottwarr]

SUCH a fabulous poster, I love it!! Can't wait to see this

 

[Ghostkeeper]

EEK! I can't wait!
When is it released?

 

[diorrnottwarr]

As per hollywoodchicago.com, Robert Richman won the Sundance "Excellence in Cinematography Award" for his work on 'The September Issue'. Woo!

 

[valentinavee]

It's coming to theaters in September 2009, then A&E will show it on TV..

 

[vogue28]

Such a long time away... I'm excited!

 

[thiago:)]

I can't wait to see it
The eds from September 2007 weren't the best, but some were actually good... In fact better than 2008. It's not only about eds, but the whole issue.
I'm really looking foward to see it. I think that it'll premiere in A&E Brazil afer a long time, maybe second semester of 2010

 

[Fiercification]

Actually I just bought the September 2007 issue off e-Bay (not because of this documentary ). I'm impatient to see the documentary though

The issue wasn't the all time best, but some eds were pretty strong and it's better than 2006, 2008 and probably 2005 issues (I just really bought it for the Meisel editorial and Pat McGrath article, it's gonna be one heavy package though )

 

[Miss Dalloway]

^^Its easily the worst September issue, imho.Even worse than the one with Kirsten on the cover,lol.

Very excited for this docu.