Director

Charlotte Zwerin

2: briefs
13:00: average
26 min: in total

On film.briefs2

Gimme Shelter

Charlotte Zwerin, Albert Maysles, David Maysles · 1970

Gimme Shelter is a 1970 Direct Cinema documentary following the Rolling Stones’ 1969 US tour to its violent end at the Altamont Free Concert. Shot by Albert and David Maysles with Charlotte Zwerin’s editing, it records studio sessions, concerts, negotiations and the fatal stabbing of Meredith Hunter — without voiceover, interviews or moral framing. Its power lies in its unblinking chronology and refusal to resolve what it witnesses.

13:00

Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser

Charlotte Zwerin · 1988

Charlotte Zwerin’s 1988 documentary assembles rediscovered 1967 footage of Thelonious Monk in performance, rehearsal, and daily life, supplemented by interviews with collaborators and family. Produced by Clint Eastwood’s Malpaso Productions, it avoids narration and chronology in favour of sustained, intimate observation — capturing Monk’s physicality, discipline, and reserve with unprecedented fidelity. Selected for the National Film Registry in 2017, it remains the definitive visual record of the pianist at work.