subscribe to style file blog via RSSbettina bashyi is sam bassett’s chelsea girl
August 11, 2008 3:02 pm
With his unruly locks, dangling pendants, and a manner that’s simultaneously intense and laid-back, Sam Bassett comes across as a Haight-Ashbury hippie reincarnated as a twenty-first-century fashion and portrait photographer-cum-skater dude. The effect is hardly undermined by his living quarters: He resides on the roof of Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel, in the same wooden aerie where actress Sarah Bernhardt was said to keep a coffin to entertain lovers.
Being something of a character, the 30 year-old New Jersey native finds himself drawn to other strong characters, and living in the Chelsea, he has a few of those under his nose. That’s one way to explain the genesis of his latest project, "Bettina," a recently completed feature-length documentary about the artist (and hotel resident) Bettina Bashyi. When Bassett first encountered Bashyi, her apartment had been declared a fire hazard, and she was about to be evicted. "Bettina" tracks his efforts to help her clear out the furiously cluttered space, and while the film’s highly personal style may not be every cineplexgoer’s cup of tea, the emotional payoff couldn’t be more resonant. The cleanup not only unearths a trove of Bashyi’s earlier work, but also offers a moving portrait of a woman emerging from decades of intense isolation. "She’s a huge inspiration to me," says Bassett. "And it’s nice to think that in my own way, I’ve helped inspire her, too."
"Bettina"—which Bassett has started showing at informal rooftop screenings—is just the first film in a planned six-part documentary series. Other subjects include the poet Ira Cohen, gay-rights pioneer Storme, and the Chelsea Hotel itself, which is in the midst of a transition as its idiosyncratic, tolerant ways meet the forces of contemporary Manhattan real estate. It’s not hard to guess which side of the divide Bassett stands on. As he says, "All the films relate to my interest in independence of spirit."
Visit Bassett’s Web site to preview his movies.
tags:
