Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project
Directed byMatt Wolf
Produced by
  • Kyle Martin
  • Andrew Kortschak
  • Walter Kortschak
Cinematography
  • Chris Dapkins
  • Matt Mitchell
Edited byKeiko Deguchi
Music byOwen Pallett
Release date
  • April 25, 2019 (2019-04-25) (Tribeca)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$54,566[1][2]

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project is a 2019 American documentary film directed by Matt Wolf about Marion Stokes[3] and the television news archive she created.[4][5][6]

Summary

Stokes captured 840,000 hours of news footage over the course of 35 years, from 1977 until her death in 2012;[7][8] the VHS and Betamax video recordings were donated to the Internet Archive.[9][10][11][12]

The Iran hostage crisis, which lasted from 1979 to 1981, made Stokes decide to make her project a round-the-clock job due to its continuous development as it happened.[13][14][15]

Release and reception

The film premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and was released and distributed by Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber.[16][17][18][19][20] It was also submitted for Oscar consideration.[21]

The film has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus reads, "Recorder: The Marion Stokes Story uses one person's singular quest to illuminate the blurred line between brilliance and obsession."[22]

Home media

The DVD and Blu-ray were released on March 10, 2020.[23]

A VHS edition of the documentary was released by Lunchmeat VHS in 2023.[24]

See also

  • Input – Public-access television talk show featured in the film, Stokes was a co-producer of the show before she started her recording project
  • Sandy Hook shooting – The last ever event recorded by Stokes, news coverage of the shooting was aired on the day she died (December 14, 2012)

References

  1. ^ "Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project". The Numbers. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  3. ^ The Criterion Channel's November 2023 Lineup|Current|The Criterion Collection
  4. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (2019-04-26). "Tribeca Film Review: 'Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project'". Variety. Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  5. ^ Kenny, Glenn (2019-11-14). "'Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project' Review: A VCR Obsession". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2019-12-02. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  6. ^ "Wexner Center of the Arts". Archived from the original on 2023-09-02. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  7. ^ "Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project review: 35 years of life reflected by TV|The Digital Fix". Archived from the original on 2020-11-28. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  8. ^ Did Marion Stokes Record the World’s Largest Personal Archive of Television?|Snopes.com
  9. ^ Winsor, Morgan (2013-12-09). "TV producer Marion Stokes' 840,000 hours of news tapes to be archived". CNN. Archived from the original on 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  10. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (4 November 2020). "Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project review – the woman who kept the TV on for 30 years|Documentary films|The Guardian". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2020-11-06. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
  11. ^ Kimball, Whitney (24 June 2020). "The Endangered Internet Archive Is Full of Treasures|Gizmodo Australia". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  12. ^ MATT WOLF TALKS ABOUT RECORDER: THE MARION STOKES PROJECT - Artfourm International
  13. ^ "One woman's incredible VHS collection will live forever on the Internet - The Daily Dot". The Daily Dot. 29 March 2014. Archived from the original on 2016-06-09. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  14. ^ "Little White Lies". Archived from the original on 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  15. ^ DVD Talk
  16. ^ "Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project | 2019". Tribeca. Archived from the original on 2019-04-30. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  17. ^ "Review: A woman recorded television 24 hours a day for 30 years. This doc tells her story". Los Angeles Times. November 27, 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-04. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  18. ^ Carey, Matthew (December 2, 2019). "Oscar-Contending Doc 'Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project' Reveals "Reclusive Activist" Behind Massive News Archive". Deadline. Archived from the original on December 3, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  19. ^ Kay, Jeremy (2019-08-06). "Zeitgeist Films, Kino Lorber team up on 'Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project' (exclusive)". Screen. Archived from the original on 2020-02-21. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  20. ^ "15 highlights at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival in NYC - CBS News". CBS News. 22 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2023-09-02.
  21. ^ 159 Documentary Features submitted for 2019 Oscar® Race - The Bahamas Weekly
  22. ^ "Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on 2023-06-01. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  23. ^ Amazom.com
  24. ^ Lunchmeat