Perception Is Power: A Conversation With THE KINGMAKER Director Lauren Greenfield
WDCB’s Gary Zidek talks to award-winning filmmaker Lauren Greenfield about her new documentary THE KINGMAKER.
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“Most people don’t know anything past 1986, they knew about the shoes, and that’s it. She’s actually a much more powerful woman, I didn’t realize how powerful.” - director Lauren Greenfield talking about the perceptions and realities of Imelda Marcos.
Filmmaker Lauren Greenfield in Chicago for screening of THE KINGMAKER
Award-winning filmmaker Lauren Greenfield’s new documentary THE KINGMAKER offers an extremely relevant cautionary tale of the dangers of re-writing and repeating history.
The film focuses on former Philippines first lady Imelda Marcos, but explores universal themes of wealth, fame and corruption. Marcos and her late husband, former president Ferdinand Marcos, gained worldwide notoriety for their lavish lifestyles while they were in power from 1965 to 1986.
Greenfield says her initial interest in Imelda Marcos was related to a specific story she read about the former Philippines first lady’s efforts to create a private safari-like park by exporting exotic animals from Africa to a small Philippines’ island. As Greenfield began looking into the abandoned animal island, details of a different story began to reveal themselves.
Imelda Marcos at home in the Philippines