Eddie Adams "An Unlikely Weapon"

"Pictures are a lot more important than a lot of people think. They say [it's] the written word--Bullshit. It's the picture that does it." - Eddie Adams

UPDATE ! (4/24)

Just found out this film is playing at the Newport Beach Film Festival at Edwards Island 7 TONIGHT (Friday April 24, 2009) . Showtime is 5:30 pm. All the info is here




"An Unlikely Weapon" trailer



Eddie Adams talks about this image.



Susan Morgan Cooper (director) and Isaac Hagy (Cinematographer) Q&A



Susan Morgan Cooper, director of 'An Unlikely Weapon'


Very young in my assisting career I had chance to assist Eddie Adams for a editorial shoot. I believe this was my first time meeting such a well-known photographer - obviously his image in Saigon has immortalized him and my tastes have always lean toward photojournalism so I was in awe to be assisting him. It was a short shoot, Lucy Liu was the actress and this was back in the Ally McBeal days. Though I wanted to ask him about that image, I realized he's probably been asked that a million times plus I was working and just didn't feel comfortable asking during such a time.

"An Unlikely Weapon" has already opened in New York and LA will have their chance on July 10th (according to the film site, it'll be at Laemmle's though currently not listed on Laemmle's future release page). This will also screen during the 17th Annual DocuWeek at ArcLight in Sherman Oaks in August. ArcLight's website only has a place holder for that film currently.

From IDA interview with Susan Morgan Cooper :

IDA: What inspired you to make An Unlikely Weapon?

SMC: I was sitting at home alone on a Saturday night like the major loser I am. My phone rang. It was my friend Armando, who had a restaurant down the hill in Hollywood. In a thick Italian accent he said, "Suzanna, there's a woman ere; she wanna make a documentary." The woman was Eddie Adams' sister-in-law, Cindy Lou Adkins.

I knew that Eddie Adams was the photographer who had taken the iconic photo, The Saigon Execution. Ironically, in a dramatic short I made some years ago about a photojournalist in Vietnam called Stringers, I used Eddie's photographs.

I flew to New York to meet with Eddie. At his studio, The Bathouse, we talked endlessly. He shared with me a 15-minute documentary he'd made called Mickey. It was a series of still photographs about a 10-year-old boy suffering from a rare, rapidly aging disease called progeria. Eddie and I cried together over the courage of this small boy, and our bond was forged forever.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Official site : An Unlikely Weapon