The Wild One — Claims Conference Film Grants

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As bold in its conception as Garfein himself, “The Wild One” reveals how art can rewind the film of our collective memory to better illuminate our present.

Synopsis

“The Wild One” illuminates the journey of an unsung artist, Jack Garfein— Holocaust survivor, celebrated Broadway director, Actors Studio West co- founder, and controversial filmmaker. It examines how his experience in the concentration camps shaped his vision of acting as a survival mechanism and propelled his engagement with themes of violence, power, and racism in postwar America in two explosive films “The Strange One” (1957) and “Something Wild” (1961). The film explores the importance of his legacy as an artist who confronted censorship and reveals how art can draw on personal memory to better enlighten our present.

Award-nominated director and producer Tessa Louise-Salomé has attracted critical attention for her poetic documentary portraits of artists. Competing at Sundance, her film Mr. X, A Vision of Leos Carax (2014) screened at numerous international festivals. Her next work on director Xavier Dolan, Once Upon a Time…Mommy (2017), explored the origins of Dolan’s electrifying family drama and aired on the Franco-German cultural channel ARTE. Founding the Paris-based company Petite Maison Production in 2006, Louise-Salomé has also produced, directed and edited gallery-commissioned films in collaboration with famous installation artists Anish Kapoor (Under the Skin, 2020), Cindy Sherman (Prima Donna, 2015), Sophie Calle (For the First and Last Time, 2012), and Terrence Koh (Adansonias, 2009). She has equally dedicated her efforts to politically-engaged works, producing the gay rights activism documentary, Illegal Love (2011) as well as a forthcoming experimental art film by Nicolas Premier commissioned by Warner Media’s artist studio OneFifty, that grew out of his ambitious transmedia series Africa is the Future. Her upcoming film, The Wild One, combines this focus on political issues with her will to explore the artistic process, tracing the life of Holocaust survivor, Actors Studio figure, and Hollywood director Jack Garfein.

About the Director

Award-nominated director and producer Tessa Louise-Salomé has attracted critical attention for her poetic documentary portraits of artists. Competing at Sundance, her film Mr. X, A Vision of Leos Carax (2014) screened at numerous international festivals. Her next work on director Xavier Dolan, Once Upon a Time…Mommy (2017), explored the origins of Dolan’s electrifying family drama and aired on the Franco-German cultural channel ARTE. Founding the Paris-based company Petite Maison Production in 2006, Louise-Salomé has also produced, directed and edited gallery-commissioned films in collaboration with famous installation artists Anish Kapoor (Under the Skin, 2020), Cindy Sherman (Prima Donna, 2015), Sophie Calle (For the First and Last Time, 2012), and Terrence Koh (Adansonias, 2009). She has equally dedicated her efforts to politically-engaged works, producing the gay rights activism documentary, Illegal Love (2011) as well as a forthcoming experimental art film by Nicolas Premier commissioned by Warner Media’s artist studio OneFifty, that grew out of his ambitious transmedia series Africa is the Future. Her film, The Wild One, combines this focus on political issues with her will to explore the artistic process, tracing the life of Holocaust survivor, Actors Studio figure, and Hollywood director Jack Garfein.

Artistic Statement

When I first met Jack Garfein, I knew I’d discovered an artist who was entirely unique. His life as a Holocaust survivor—still largely untold—followed an almost-unbelievable trajectory, shaping his defiant and deeply-personal vision as a Broadway and Hollywood director. Watching his films The Strange One(1957) and Something Wild (1961), I was immediately drawn in by the complexity of his characters, by the audacious yet subtle realism of his style. I also found, in this avant-garde auteur, a resounding social justice consciousness. His work—which tackled censorship around racial segregation, rape, homosexuality, and military culture—illuminated issues that remain alarmingly relevant today, as fascist and right-wing violence continues to resurge. I have asked Jack to take on this final role in order to capture this story of an artist “whose experience of the Shoah’s cataclysm,” to quote his friend Henry Miller, “only deepened his sense of humanity.”