ROBERT KROEHLING PAPERS CONCERNING VISIONS OF UTOPIA, 1983-1984

Summary:Materials related to the film Roosevelt, NJ: Visions of Utopia, a 52 minute, 16 mm color documentary film produced for Lumen Productions in New York City by Richard Kroehling and Laura Nathanson, directed by Richard Kroehling and edited by Laura Nathanson.

The film footage, including stills, trims (OK portions of takes not used in the workprint), outtakes, and a few negatives, is stored in a metal canister. The reel-to-reel tapes comprise 37 reels of 1/4 inch reel-to reel tape of interviews with the settlers, some recorded with camera (sync) and others without camera (wild). Please see AUDIO/VISUAL FILES for more information. All of the interviews have been transcribed. The transcriptions are arranged alphabetically by interviewee. Each file contains several copies of each interview, some with editions, directions to the camera crew, and sequence numbers. Each interview also appears again in the shooting script, parts of the interview that were actually used in the documentary. There are copies of these fragments both with and without camera, annotated by the film editor. The last group is made up of other materials related to the making and showing of the film, including correspondence, research materials borrowed by Kroehling and Nathanson from Roosevelt residents, press releases for the film premier, and reviews of the film.

It premiered October 22, 1983 in Roosevelt, and was later shown on PBS. The documentary was filmed without narration based on interviews with surviving Roosevelt settlers and their children, who describe the foundation and early history of the town. It includes archival pictures of the construction of the town, Board of Sponsors members Albert Einstein and Eleanor Roosevelt, and Roosevelt artist Ben Shahn.