Bert Stern: Original Madman

Documentary biopic on celebrity and fashion photographer Bert Stern, arguably most famous for his Last Sitting collection - 2,500 photographs of Marilyn Monroe, taken six weeks before her death for Vogue magazine. Stern was also responsible for the iconic poster image for one-time Look Magazine colleague Stanley Kubrick's Lolita.

Stern, who dropped out of school at 13 and started his creative career by working in Look magazine's mailroom, would have us believe that all he does is "just push the button". Some button: his portfolio for Smirnoff vodka ushered in concept photography, sweeping aside the drawn ad campaigns prevalent in the early 1950s, and made Stern a star at 25, sought after by Madison Avenue, Hollywood and the international fashion scene. Bert was at the heart of what George Lois would call the "creative evolution". Stern claims to photograph a space between himself and his subject "where anything can happen". A lot has certainly happened in this volatile artist's life, exposed here alongside his pictures and his own candid recollections.

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