Screening Room: Ricky Leacock

Richard Leacock visited Screening Room on June 15, 1973, with Al Mecklenburg and Jon Rosenfeld. He demonstrated super-8 sync technology and screened excerpts from his films Republicans: The New Breed and Queens of Apollo, as well as rare footage of Indira Ghandi.

From his first film depicting his boyhood life in the Canary Islands, Richard Leacock has been obsessed with capturing on film the feeling of “being there.” This curiosity led him to technological innovations and breakthrough films that fueled the emerging “direct cinema” movement. In 1948, he shot Louisiana Story with Robert and Frances Flaherty and he has worked with other cinéma vérité pioneers like Robert Drew and D. A. Pennebaker on films like Primary, A Happy Mother's Day, and Monterey Pop. In the late 1960s, Leacock headed the film department at MIT, and with Ed Pincus, trained many talented direct cinema filmmakers. He is currently living in France with his partner Valerie Lelonde.