Robert De Niro at Brown to share father's story

The screening of "Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro Sr" and panel discussion headlined by Robert De Niro, one of the most anticipated events of this year's Ivy Film Festival, drew a huge audience, packing the De Ciccio Family Auditorium in Salomon on Thursday."Remembering the Artist" is a film directed by Brown graduate Perri Peltz, a panelist at Thursday's event, and Geeta Gandbhri. The film, which chronicles the life, work, and influence of De Niro's father Robert De Niro Sr., originally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2014 and was available on HBO.Peltz introduced the film by describing how it "tells the story of what the meaning of success can be and is." Thursday's screening marks the beginning of a re-release of the film next week.Though the film is only forty minutes long, it paints a compelling picture of De Niro's personality as well as his triumphs and challenges navigating the emerging New York American art world in the 1930s and 1940s. In it, interviews with De Niro Jr, several of De Niro Sr.'s contemporaries, and excerpts from De Niro Sr.'s extensive journals combine to show his both his passion for painting and personal struggles. He was clearly an ambitious man, but experienced personal turmoil due to a failed marriage, attempts to repress his sexuality, inability to gain vast artistic recognition, and bouts of depression.A second narrative about the American art world runs through the film. De Niro was loosely in a group of Abstract expressionist artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning, but his style did not perfectly fit in. Though his work was displayed in several high profile shows, he never achieved the same level of recognition as other artists in the group. Later, in 1960, a dramatic shift in preferences toward the pop art of Andy Warhol and Frank Stella stood in sharp contrast to De Niro's style. Such changes in the art world left De Niro behind.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCh19NKaPhc[/embed]Following the screening, President Christina Paxson moderated a discussion between De Niro Jr., Peltz, and Brown graduate Megyn Fox Kelly, an art adviser who manages De Niro Sr.'s collections and estate. De Niro began by describing his personal motivation for making the film to document who his father was for his family. Originally, the film was never meant to be seen by the public. However, "it became clear it was not just the story of Robert De Niro Sr. but one of many artists" in that period, Peltz said.In response to Paxson's question about when his father was most happy, De Niro said that working distracted and satisfied him. De Niro explained how his father often told him that artists did not gain fame or recognition until after death. Even so, "people like to be recognized for their work, no matter what they might say," he added.An emotional De Niro said that though he did not like going to galleries with his father as a child, he was able to appreciate what made a good painting. "My kids don't like to go to my movies," he joked. De Niro built on his interviews in the film by explaining his complicated and sometimes distant relationship with his father since he grew up in his mother's home after the two separated when he was a young child and regrets he had about not spending more time with his parents."I was busy with my own life," he said.Questions from the audience led to some tense moments in which De Niro was hesitant to share, or unable to articulate further, details about his relationship with his father or his father's beliefs or struggles. De Niro commented that his father would be "very happy I did the film" and was proud of his son's successful career. Peltz recalled a time in which De Niro Sr., who was teaching visual arts classes in New York at the time, made all of his students go see De Niro Jr.'s first movie.De Niro urged Brown and RISD students to "do what you do because you love it" and not to "expect to get any recognition." He closed the discussion on the question of his decision to publicize the film by saying, "I had no reservations. I had to do it. It wasn't even worth considering."Images via, via.