In a life spanning nearly the entire 20th century, Altina Schinasi played many roles. Born in 1907, the youngest daughter of a Jewish-Turkish mogul who invented pre-rolled cigarettes, Schinasi enjoyed a privileged New York childhood but later defied convention by striking out on her own—divorcing her first husband and becoming (as a single mother with two young sons) a designer of display windows for Fifth Avenue stores, while also studying art with George Grosz. She's perhaps best known for designing the Harlequin eyeglass frames that became a fashion standard, but her sculptures called “chairacters”—mixing human forms with furniture—are equally imaginative. Schinasi was also a filmmaker, producing an Oscar-nominated documentary on Grosz, as well as assisting her son Denis Sanders on his Oscar-winning short A Time Out of War. And she was an activist, aiding Jews in escaping the Holocaust, hiding friends who were being hounded by Senator Joe McCarthy, and working with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks in the early days of the Civil Rights movement. Directed by Schinasi's grandson, Peter Sanders, Altina is clearly a labor of love, emphasizing Schinasi's personal life. In addition to excerpts from interviews that Schinasi gave in the 1990s, the film features extensive recollections by Schinasi's son Terry, as well as her two surviving husbands (the last, Celestino Miranda, tearfully recalls her death in 1999), backed with reams of archival material that is skillfully stitched together. Extras include the bonus featurette “Reflections on Altina” (with comments from friends and relatives), and an art and photo gallery. An informative, genuinely touching portrait of a remarkable woman, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
Altina
(2013) 89 min. DVD: $27.95. First Run Features (avail. from most distributors). Closed captioned. Volume 30, Issue 1
Altina
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