Bal Harbour

122 BAL HARBOUR THE LAST WORD Documentary filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders reflects on the life and legacy of his most recent subject, Toni Morrison. BY SIOBHAN MORRISSEY MIAMI NATIVE Timothy Greenfield-Sanders uses film to give voice to the power of the written word. His documentary, Toni Morrison: e Pieces I Am, is an homage to the beloved author, released just months before Morrison's death. e documentary includes interviews spanning five decades of the acclaimed author's life and serves, at least artistically, as her last word. e first woman of color to receive a Nobel Prize—in any category—Morrison reveals in the film how her grandfather often bragged about having read the Bible, even though it was illegal in his lifetime to read. at act of defiance inspired in Morrison a reverence for writing. "Ultimately," she said in the documentary, "I knew that words have power." Creating a documentary requires a tremendous investment of time and both physical and psychic energy, a compulsion of sorts. What compelled you to focus on Toni Morrison? Toni Morrison and I first met in 1981, 38 years ago. I shot many portraits of her for books and press, but most importantly, I was inspired by her work. My series on identity… starting with e Black List: Volume 1, came about from an idea that Toni proposed to me. As she moved into her late 80s, there was definitely a need for a film about her life. Would you agree with A.O. Scott's assessment that your film is "less a biography than an extended essay"—which by the way, he maintains, makes it more powerful? It's a valid and thoughtful description. e film certainly has much biography but the documentary also takes you places and into other emotional spaces that traditional biographies often don't. When focusing on someone famous, the interviewer has a lot of background material available. e trick sometimes is to provide new insight. What information or anecdotes were you able to extract that were unique to your project? What is special in Toni Morrison: e Pieces I Am is that Toni tells her story. She guides the narrative. Your documentary was released within months of Morrison's death. Did you know at the time that your work would serve, at least artistically, as her last word? We interviewed Toni over two years ago for the film. She was not involved in the filmmaking process, beyond those times with her. We were so grateful for the time she gave us, which was truly magical… sitting on her dock with the river moving by. We are all still grieving her loss. Anne Morrow Lindbergh once compared the death of her husband to that of a fallen tree, where she could finally see the whole length of him, all the different periods of his life in a linear fashion. In life, Toni Morrison was also a towering presence. Because your documentary took place during the last phase of her life, did you also get a more complete sense of Toni Morrison as an author and her place in history? What's incredibly special about the film is that we have interview material with Toni from five decades of her life. Perhaps the sessions we shot with her, since they are her last on film, are even a more important part of her legacy now. I read last week an article that described our film as, "an elegy to her." I'm so grateful that we had this time with Toni and were able to complete the film during her lifetime. e author was a black woman, writing about the black experience. Please tell our readers what insight you, as a white man, bring to this documentary. I try to always be aware of "the white gaze." Many people brought diverse backgrounds and ideas to the film: Mickalene omas's remarkable opening montage, Kathryn Bostic's extraordinary musical score, Sandra Guzmán's thoughtful interviews and Johanna Giebelhaus's stunning editing all added depth and texture to Toni Morrison: e Pieces I Am. Filmmaker, photographer, book author: and you excel in all three fields, with works in the Museum of Modern Art and the National Portrait Gallery and a Grammy Award for your feature film on Lou Reed. How do you keep focused while being pulled in so many different directions? My years of portraiture help so much with the visuals of filmmaking. Certainly there are times when I feel overwhelmed by all I am doing… but ultimately I enjoy the work and I think that is the secret to being able to juggle it all. You were born in Miami Beach and educated at Ransom Everglades, Class of '70, where you were honored two years ago for your distinguished service to the community. South Florida, in particular Miami and Miami Beach, is becoming quite the incubator for film, with an Oscar for Moonlight, the recent release of !e Last Resort and your prolific genius. How much of a role did geography play in your development as an artist and author? I grew up in Miami in a house filled with art. My mother started in 1950, in Miami, the first integrated school for music, art and dance in the South, the Fine Arts Conservatory. e Miami that I knew growing up was special and inspirational. is immersion in the arts led me to New York for college at Columbia University and a life-long appreciation of the value of the arts.

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