Lou Reed has directed a documentary about his 99-year old relative Red Shirley.
Shirley Novick, aka Red Shirley, is Lou’s 99-year old cousin. He wanted to make the documentary just prior to her 100th birthday.Lou talks to Shirley during the 28-minute film as she tells the stories of her life.
Notes on the film detail "We learn that she left Poland on her own in 1938 at the age of 19 with only two suitcases and a few dollars in her pocket to travel to Montreal - where in six months she was to learn not French but the mandolin! - before finally slipping off illegally to New York, buried under the goods on a truck. There she was to become a dressmaker and to lead the workers' demands - hence her nickname Red Shirley, which gave the film its title."
The movie will premiere on May 20 at the Visions du Reel festival in Nyon, Switzerland.
