AIFF on the Small Screen: Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Ashland Independent Film Festival in AIFF on the Small Screen

Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
Find it on: Netflix | Amazon | iTunes | YouTube

Documentary | 91 minutes
Director: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
Year: AIFF2016
Country: USA

In the 1970s, groundbreaking TV producer Norman Lear (All In the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons) shifted the national consciousness by injecting lowbrow comedy and enlightened humanism into sociopolitical debates on race, class, religion, and gender. Bringing provocative subjects like war, poverty, and prejudice into 120 million homes each week, he proved that social change was possible through an unlikely prism: laughter. At 93, Mr. Lear is still as vital and politically engaged as ever. This documentary is more than the definitive chronicle of Lear’s life, work, and achievements; it is a dynamic portrait that matches the spirit of its subject.