Islands
(Albert Maysles, David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin, Canada 1987, 58 min., 16mm)
For a brief two weeks in May 1983, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Surrounded Islands blossomed on the waters of Biscayne Bay, Florida. Eleven scrub pine islands were surrounded by 6.5 million square feet of bright pink fabric. A three-year struggle, a work of art, and a political drama interwoven with two other projects-in-progress—the wrapping of the Pont Neuf in Paris and the Reichstag in Berlin.
Christo in Paris
(Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Deborah Dickson, and Susan Froemke, US 1990, 58 min., 16mm)
Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s first grand-scale urban project was wrapping the oldest bridge in Paris, the same bridge where Christo had courted Jeanne-Claude. A love story set in the heart of Paris: between a refugee artist and a French general’s daughter, between a 400-year-old bridge and the people of Paris.