Hot Docs 2009

Virtually unknown today, Danny Williams was Andy Warhol's lover and a promising young filmmaker who disappeared mysteriously in 1966. In this elegant and revelatory personal inquiry, Esther Robinson, Williams' niece, looks for the elusive truth behind her uncle's association with the Factory, and his subsequent disappearance. The discovery of 20 never-before-seen films William's made during his time at the Factory-and whose many subjects include Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, Paul Morrissey, Brigid Berlin, Billy Name and what may be the earliest known footage of the Velvet Underground-reveals a luminous talent and a stark gap in the historical record. Combined with Robinson's intimate interviews of surviving Factory members, the film gets beyond the icons and quietly dismantles the Warhol myth-making machine, allowing a deeper examination of the human fragility on which Andy Warhol's empire was built. Presented with I JUST WANTED TO BE SOMEBODY.