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By Gregory Crofton

Celia Maysles wanted to get to know her Dad. She opened the door of his beige Mercedes and sat behind the wheel. “I like this car,” she said with a smile. Later on the subway she wears his signature red-and-white scarf, a sense of fashion he picked up in London while filming The Rolling Stones.

These moments are captured in “Wild Blue Yonder,” a little-known documentary released in 2007 that follows Celia’s search for her late father, the much admired and influential filmmaker, David Maysles.

Celia had already dealt with some instability in her life having recovered from a mental health crisis, one so difficult she committed herself to hospital care. But by the time she was in her early 20s, she was grounded and working in the world of film, though still experiencing a kind of identity crisis, probably because her father died when she was seven years old.

His death from an aneurysm, likely caused by complications from an antidepressant, was sudden at 54. The family reacted with a general silence, not talking about him or his important contributions to the world of art.

At the age of 24, Celia decided to go looking for her father on her own. And she documented the process just like he would have. She grabbed a camera and went to meet with her uncle, Albert Maysles, in the New York City office of Maysles Films, Inc.

New Type of Cinema

They hadn’t seen each other in years, but Albert had worked side-by-side with his brother, so she thought it was best to try connect with him. Albert did the camerawork while David recorded sound and handled the business side of things. The Maysles brothers also regularly worked with people like Charlotte Zwerin, who co-directed five Maysles films.

Their style was a new type of cinema. There was no script, no voiceover, no formal sit-down interviews. It was known as cinéma vérité, or direct cinema. Maysles Films, Inc., is iconic in the world of documentary film and known for the classics “Salesman,” “Grey Gardens” and “Gimme Shelter.”

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Relationship with Albert

“Now you’re getting into filmmaking, that’s wonderful, and something David would have liked,” says Albert in “Wild Blue Yonder.” “He wouldn’t say you’ve got to do it. But getting into something he was proficient at and devoted to … I think that would please him.”

On camera, Celia’s relationship with Albert begins as a warm, somewhat awkward one, but it quickly becomes strained as he hesitates and then denies her request to look for footage of her father in the Maysles’ archives. Celia is desperate to see and hear David on film because it’s one way she might be able to know him better.

“I’m making an autobiography film myself,” says Albert to Celia. “And so some material that you might want would have to be in my film. We may have a problem in that (film) competing with mine and so forth.”

The dialogue between Albert and Celia becomes increasingly heated, which is sad and difficult to watch, but it works for the film as a compelling thread. And surprisingly, almost miraculously, according to Celia, Albert signs an agreement (he does it on camera) to include the footage of these contentious discussions in her film.

The Lawsuit

Ultimately Albert was able to keep archival Maysles footage from Celia because he owned Maysles’ Films, Inc., including any unfinished film projects. Celia’s mother, Judy Maysles, sued the company after her husband’s death to retain her share of things, but the lawsuit dragged on and she eventually agreed to a cash settlement that did not include any material ownership.

David’s Blue Yonder

The most important project David was working on before his death was autobiographical and called “Blue Yonder.” He pursued it as a solo project, meaning without the help of Albert. “It would have been a really interesting film,” says Bob Richman, a cinematographer first hired by David as a production assistant. “He was investigating his own filmmaking and why he did what he did. It was about his family. It was about him.”

Judy said that she recalled specifically mentioning the “Blue Yonder” material in her lawsuit because she wanted to keep that for her children in case they decided to finish the project, which is what Celia ended up doing. Albert died in 2015 at the age of 88. He made many films after the death of his brother in 1987, but none were “Blue Yonder” or anything else like it.

Wild Blue Yonder

Celia’s “Wild Blue Yonder” is a beautiful film that took four years to make. It’s a touching memorial to her father that shows how his sensitive spirit lives on in her. Albert never budged in allowing access to his archives, but Celia’s journey still ends in a very satisfying way.

The 67-minute doc was filmed and directed by Ceila and edited by Charlene Rule. It has a good pace, a fitting modern instrumental soundtrack, and delivers multiple layers of story regarding issues of mental health, intergenerational family and important American film history via interviews with Charlotte Zwerwin, Christo and Jeanne-Claude and D.A. Pennebaker.

Thankfully the film contains clips from key Maysles docs including “Running Fence,” “Salesman,” and “Grey Gardens,” but none were provided by Maysles Films. Ceila and the production company that backed her, Corra Films, relied on fair use permission granted under section 107 of the Copywright Act.

Grey Gardens

“Wild Blue Yonder” serves in a way as a sequel to “Grey Gardens.” Celia meets up with Lois Wright, an artist who stayed with Big Edie and Little Edie at the decaying mansion when the documentary was shot there. Together they drink wine and take a trip back to the East Hampton house, since remodeled, and Wright recalls the days she spent there with David and Albert.

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Film’s Release

“Wild Blue Yonder” premiered in 2007 at the International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA), and then aired on the Documentary Channel via DISH Network in 2008. Overall awareness of the film, Celia said, has been limited in part because of pressure Albert put on venues and distributors to not show the film as she made it.

You can rent “Wild Blue Yonder” here for $1.99.

Notes: The New Yorker recently published a fascinating story about Charlotte Zwerin. The article illuminates the inner workings of Maysles Films, Inc.

Below watch the trailer for “Wild Blue Yonder.”

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Celia Maysles speaks about her film and trying to work with Uncle Albert.