Jay Rosenblatt didn’t know the home videos he shot of his daughter, Ella, on her birthday each year would turn into the Oscar-nominated short film “How Do You Measure A Year?” He…
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Jay Rosenblatt didn’t know the home videos he shot of his daughter, Ella, on her birthday each year would turn into the Oscar-nominated short film “How Do You Measure A Year?” He revealed on Variety’s Doc Dreams, presented by National Geographic, that the project started out simply as a time capsule for his daughter to look back upon.
“At the very least, I knew I had an archive for Ella to have,” said Rosenblatt. “But I didn’t know I had a film.”
The director recalled the moment he realized that these series of home videos could be transformed into a short film following the release of his HBO film “When We Were Bullies.” After having some time on his hands due to the pandemic, Rosenblatt decided it was the perfect time to “look at that footage I shot of Ella on her birthdays. I realized at that point I had a film.”
Each year, Rosenblatt sat down with his daughter on her birthday to document her growth throughout the years. The 45 minutes to hour long interviews would be peppered with questions like “what does power mean to you” or “what are your favorite foods.” As his daughter grew, so did the length and depth of her answers much to the delight of audiences.
Despite the hours of footage Rosenblatt had captured, the director knew it would translate the best in the short medium. “The film’s power is because it’s a short film,” said Rosenblatt. “I don’t think it would be as powerful if it was a feature-length film. It’s like watching time, and all film is like that in a way, but this is real-time.”
After each session of filming, Rosenblatt chose not to look back at the recordings. When it came time to put the footage together, he revealed watching the last year of the film proved the most emotional for him.
“It had footage in there that I had never seen,” Rosenblatt explained. “I asked her when she was 18 if we could get a little more intimate and deeper. I thought ‘Maybe I should leave the room and let her talk to the camera,’ which I did. I started looking at all the different years and I came across what she actually said to me, and it was so moving. It was a real gift.”
“How Do You Measure A Year” is now available to stream on Max.