Doc. Film FINDING VIVIAN MAIER an Artist Revealed Posthumously

FINDING VIVIAN MAIER (b.1926-09) is a film that uncovers a bounty of photos taken by Maier that were never shared with anyone.  Her work was discovered by John Maloof who purchased a box of negatives at an auction sale (for approx. $350) to use for a book project.  Scanning the negatives, he deemed them irrelevant and stored them for 2 years.  Taking a 2nd look, Maloof, a dir. of this film, found the works extraordinary and sought corroboration for his assessment & assistance in organizing this treasure grove.  Turned down by both the MoMA & Tate Modern (big mistake!) Maloof went on the internet & swiftly found a mass audience who perceived Maier's uncanny eye.  Reknown photographers, Joel Meyerowitz & Mary Ellen Park attest to her adroit skills in capturing the qualities of human warmth, playfulness & tragedy.  Her work is put on par with Cartier-Bresson, Arbus & Frank.  A major body of her work captures Chicago's street life and its people from 1950-1970's.  The enigma of why Maier had amassed "a ton of work," roughly 40,000 negatives without showing them to anyone is a mystery.  Maloof interviews the families for whom Maier was a nanny/housekeeper.  She's described as intensely private, eccentric, a pack rat and as a person whose mental stability spiraled downward.  She described herself "as a sort of a spy." FINDING VIVIAN MAIER is an engrossing  & beguiling character study of an artist whose work should have made her famous during her lifetime.