LitFilm 2024: Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women
Documentary, dir. by Nancy Porter
U.S., 2009, 83 min
Louisa May Alcott’s reputation as a morally upstanding New England spinster, reflecting the conventional propriety of mid-19th century Concord, Massachusetts, is firmly established. Raised among reformers, iconoclasts and Transcendentalists, Alcott was actually a free thinker, with democratic ideals and progressive values about women. Most surprising is that Alcott led, anonymously and under the pseudonym A.M. Barnard, a literary double life not discovered until the 1940s. As Barnard, Alcott penned some thirty pulp fiction thrillers, with characters running the gamut from murderers and revolutionaries to cross-dressers and opium addicts. Originally broadcast in 2009, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women is the first film biography about the celebrated author and reveals a remarkable woman, ahead of her time, who was much more than a writer of children’s books.
All screenings are free but require reservations. Times subject to change. For the full LitFilm roster, go here.
LitFilm: A BPL Film Festival About Writers is made possible with support from BPL’s Fund for the Humanities. BPL Presents programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Documentary, dir. by Nancy Porter
U.S., 2009, 83 min
Louisa May Alcott’s reputation as a morally upstanding New England spinster, reflecting the conventional propriety of mid-19th century Concord, Massachusetts, is firmly established. Raised among reformers, iconoclasts and Transcendentalists, Alcott was actually a free thinker, with democratic ideals and progressive values about women. Most surprising is that Alcott led, anonymously and under the pseudonym A.M. Barnard, a literary double life not discovered until the 1940s. As Barnard, Alcott penned some thirty pulp fiction thrillers, with characters running the gamut from murderers and revolutionaries to cross-dressers and opium addicts. Originally broadcast in 2009, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women is the first film biography about the celebrated author and reveals a remarkable woman, ahead of her time, who was much more than a writer of children’s books.
All screenings are free but require reservations. Times subject to change. For the full LitFilm roster, go here.
Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library, Dweck Center MM/DD/YYYY 60