The Incomparable Rose Hartman

A world premiere at SXSW that screened at over a dozen festivals including Toronto’s HotDocs and DOC NYC, “The Incomparable Rose Hartman” exposes the irascibly candid, now 80-year-old woman behind some of pop culture’s most enduring images, particularly from the Studio 54 era and her pioneering work behind the scenes of 7th Avenue. Hartman’s pictures continue to fascinate, riding that thrilling line between public and private, proof that the rich and famous operate in a forbidden stratosphere behind velvet ropes and catwalks where Rose lies in wait. Although Hartman rejects the idea that she was or is some kind of paparazza, insisting she was always and remains today an invited guest, much of her work is about moments we’re not necessarily supposed to see. Some have called her “the Tasmanian Devil of photography.”