7, 14, 21, 28 Feb. Filmmaker Nancy D. Kates traces the life of the cultural critic and writer.

Opening with her saying “I love being alive”, this documentary about the celebrated American novelist, filmmaker, critic and feminist Susan Sontag then turns to commentary from her friends, colleagues and lovers to prove just how true that statement was. But Sontag, who died in 2004, was a complex, often contrary character who could use her ‘celebrity intellectual’ status to personal advantage, and who gave little away emotionally. 

Although clearly a fan, director/co-writer Nancy Kates allows some of her archive interviewees – who include heavyweights such as Norman Mailer, Annie Leibovitz and Susan Sarandon ¬– plenty of leeway to criticise Sontag as well as praise her. She also has actor Patricia Clarkson (The East, One Day) reading extracts from the author’s work to help build a fascinating, rounded portrait of a powerful and strikingly charismatic force in American literature.