Oscilloscope Laboratories Tabs Oct. 1 For Blu-ray And DVD Editions Of Documentary Filmmaker Jill Magid’s The Proposal

The summer is full of fiction and escape entertainment.   You can have wild fantasies like Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood, or animated talking pets and toys, or cleverly-crafted CGI lions and what not.   You expect such things during the summer.

But there is one film currently working the arthouse circuit (it opened in a single theatre around Memorial Day … and has venues booked through Labor Day) that is every bit as fantastic in its story, but absolutely true.   If you wrote the script, audiences and critics might think it a work of fiction, but artist and documentary filmmaker Jill Magid’s — who is the subject of her own film — award-winning The Proposal is a film document drawn from the incredible, but true, that plays out like a Hollywood-style caper film.

Since the exhibition profile is limited — a few renown arthouse venues and festival screenings — it falls to Oscilloscope Laboratories release of both DVD and Blu-ray editions of The Proposal on Oct. 1 to reach a wider audience.

For the record, the ARR works out to 130 days.

To understand the film in question, you first have to be familiar with Luis Barragán, one of the great architects of the 20^th Century.   Celebrated for his Modernist designs and structures, but with his own “artistic” touches — colorful, vibrant.   He ultimately became know for his “anti-functionalism” and was celebrated as an “architect with emotion.”

As the story unfolds in Jill Magid’s film, we learn that upon Barragán’s passing in 1988, he left his work — his archives — to life-long friends to manage and treasure.   Since they were also roughly his age — he died at age 86 — the estate managers soon passed as well and his legacy ended up being controlled by a Swiss furniture company by the name of Vitra, which set about to copyright and control all of Barragán’s works and designs.

Magid, as an artist, who loves and adores his works and visions — his buildings and homes (which you can visit and see, but the designs themselves, even down to his name, are under copyright by Vitra) — she tries (during the first half of her film) to unlock access to the artist’s works, but is met with resistance (she cleverly uses the monstrous corporate headquarters of Vitra as an imposing obstacle to her quest).

The second half of The Proposal centers around Magid’s “creative” plan to force Vitra’s hand, which we will not reveal here, but let us say, for the record, that Hollywood scriptwriters would be hard-pressed to find a more clever way to “attack” the problem.   

As to the filmmaker herself, this is her only film, she is an artist (and author) who loves and reveres the work of Luis Barragán.   She would like nothing more than the world to share in her passion and remember his legacy.   To that end she recruited professionals to aid her in her quest, with Jarred Alterman (Bisbee '17, Contemporary Color, American Renaissance, etc.) acting as producer and cinematographer, two-time Emmy nominee and Pulitzer Prize-winner Laura Poitras (Oscar-winner for her film Citizenfour) served as executive producer, Field of Vision co-founder Charlotte Cook is on board as a producer and documentary filmmaker Laura Coxson (Iris) is in a similar role as producer … this combined talent and experience gives The Proposal its clean and professional look.   Kudos to all!!

As to bonus goodies, there is a commentary options featuring Jill Magid and the aforementioned Laura Poitras and Jarred Alterman, plus there is a 2016 video interview with Jill Magid conduced by Artforum.