Margaret (Margie) Smilow

 

I was lucky enough to know Margie, and to work with her on several occasions, always on
her initiative.

Margie was one of those creative producers, picking up on new ideas when she wasn't the
originator of them, able to turn an encounter into a new project.

Together we made Pacific Music Festival with the late Charlotte Zwerin, partner of the
Maysles brothers and director of the magnificent Thelonius Monk. Margie had met Harry
Kraut, "Uncle Harry" to his friends, who had told her about the Pacific Music Festival,
created by Leonard Bernstein in 1990 and which was to be held in China. The events of
Tiananmen Square decided otherwise, and it was in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido, in
northern Japan, that we all met for what was, with Margie, our first collaboration. It was
Margie who had thought of Charlotte for this "Fly on the wall" style feature documentary, in
the tradition of the American independents that Margie revered. During the two weeks we
spent together on the set, her determination, but also her humour and good mood, worked
wonders. And the meetings with Harry Kraut, Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Tilson Thomas, André Watts or Jean-Yves Thibaudet will remain for me a baptism of fire in which Margie was from start to finish the craftsman. A few years later, we met again for a project, initiated for once by Idéale Audience, but taken up, transformed and expanded by Margie, who was ultimately the great architect of Harlem in Montmartre. By bringing in PBS/Channel Thirteen and the BBC, Margie expanded the project. Olivier Simonnet, for the French part, brought a creative and original dimension that Margie was able to welcome and integrate into this magnificent film produced in France by Hélène Le Coeur.

Finally, it was Margie who took the initiative of associating us with Steven Sebring's film Patti
Smith - Dream of Life by convincing me to jump on a plane to come to New York to see a first
rough cut of a film that Steven will finally have taken eleven years to make. An extraordinary
film, the opportunity to meet Patti and to make a contribution by acquiring the DVD rights
for France.

From these three experiences, but also from the numerous meetings several times a year,
throughout these years of companionship, we keep the memory of a luminous friendship
with Margie, a woman of such courage, determination and strength of conviction that it was
difficult to resist.

Pierre-Olivier Bardet

Idéale Audience