Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project

Sponsored by: Ramona Rogers-Windsor and Thomas Windsor

 

For over 30 years, from the 1979 Iran hostage crisis to the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, Marion Stokes recorded television for 24 hours a day, commercials and all. By the time of her death, Stokes had amassed 70,000 VHS tapes, capturing not just world history, but who we were: what we watched, what we valued, and what we thought. The story of this remarkable archive—and the enigmatic woman behind it—provides a fascinating look into the media’s crafting of history, and our complicity in watching it.

 

"RECORDER is a haunting portrait of a brilliant, driven, difficult outsider." - Film Comment Magazine 

 

"Intriguing from first minute to last." - Hollywood Reporter

 

"As we get to know Marion Stokes, her motivation for doing what she did comes to seem more and more resonant and fascinating and less and less of a private compulsive geek-out." - Variety 

 

 

Community Partners: Riverwest Film & Video/Riverwest Radio, UWM Department of Film, Video, Animation, and New Genres


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About Milwaukee Film

Milwaukee Film is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to entertaining, educating, and engaging our community through cinematic experiences. We operate the magnificent Oriental Theatre, a historic cinema palace committed to high-quality and accessible film and education programming. Since 2009, the annual Milwaukee Film Festival has brought together film fans and filmmakers to celebrate the power of cinema. Our education programs and Cultures & Communities platform provide avenues toward making our community a more empathetic and equitable place for everyone to live.

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