ABSTRACT
This chapter consists of an interview conducted by Marsha Gordon with Margaret Parsons, curator of film at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Parsons discusses the history of the National Gallery of Art’s art film production and programming from the time she arrived at the museum in the late 1970s and from the inception of the film program, which she began in 1981. Parsons assesses the nature of art filmmaking as she has witnessed its evolution over the course of her career, considering how art documentaries have been produced and viewed in an international context. She discusses the impact of funding, distribution, festivals, institutions, and economics on art filmmakers and films, with examples of exemplary art documentaries that indicate the past, present, and future of the genre.
