• The Proposal

    Directed by Jill Magid
    USA | 83 minutes | True Stories

In this provocative and probing documentary, conceptual artist and filmmaker Jill Magid resorts to unorthodox and jaw-dropping methods in her attempt to persuade the foundation of Mexico’s most famous architect, Luis Barragán, to release his archives after a 20-year embargo.

film synopsis

While studying the late Luis Barragán, Mexico's most famous architect, conceptual artist Jill Magid hit a wall that halted her research: a Swiss company owns the rights to Barragán's expansive archives and has kept them from public view for 20 years. Determined to shake the tree of rigid copyright laws and force the head of the Barragán Foundation to loosen its iron grip, Magid ignites a spellbinding game of cat and mouse, resorting to unorthodox and at times jaw-dropping methods of persuasion. Is Magid's action a grotesque form of manipulation? Or an ingenious act of rebellion? Executive produced by Oscar®-winning documentarian Laura Poitras, Magid's provocative and eye-opening documentary confronts crucial moral questions of whether a corporate body should be entitled to the ownership of a single person's life and legacy. At once an elegiac celebration of Barragán and his invaluable work, Magid's probing debut also unravels like a taut mystery, heading toward an unforgettable, gut-twisting finale.

film details

Director: Jill Magid
Producers: Jarred Alterman, Laura Coxson, Charlotte Cook
Cinematographers: Jarred Alterman
Editor: Hannah Buck
Music: T. Griffin
Country: USA
Language: English
Year: 2018
Running Time: 83 minutes
Primary Company: Oscilloscope Laboratories

director biography

2019 Film Festival