Himself
What makes a rebel? This 78 minute documentary probes the psyche of bad-boy publisher and free speech warrior Barney Rosset, whose mid-century legal and cultural battles smashed sexual and political taboos in the United States — unleashing the counter-culture of the 1960s and introducing millions of young intellectuals to the most radical currents in literature, film, theater and politics. In his late eighties, coming to terms with his life, Barney Rosset began to obsessively sculpt an autobiographical 15′ x 22′ surreal wall mural, embedded with jewel-like vignettes crafted out of found objects, each a clue to the conflicts and obsessions that drove Barney’s lifetime rebellion against authority. A cast of artists, a neurologist, and a shaman connect the clues and piece together Barney’s life.
The meeting of two worlds that never met. One of poetry and freedom, and the other of silence and darkness. A story that begins in a maximum security prison in Sweden where a young actor, Jan Jönson, decides to stage " Waiting for Godot "with five prisoners as actors.
Stage director
A documentary made at the set up of a theater production, of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot", directed by Jan Jönson, played by prisoners, at San Quentin State Prison in California.The play is about two men who meet on a lonely country road, waiting for someone called Godot to confirm their lives and make life easier for them to live. Towards the end Godot announces that he will not come tonight, but maybe tomorrow. Producer and director John Reilly and a crew spent four weeks at the maximum-security facility; rehearsal and performance sequences are inter-cut with footage of daily prison life and discussions with the principal characters.
