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BOB TOLD ME FOUR JOKES, 2017, 19 min.

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Director - Zach Weintraub

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An experimental short documentary about a visit to grandpa's house in Florida.

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After SLACKJAW, Nandan decided to stop shooting movies. At the same time, I decided that if my own filmmaking practice wasn't going to get bigger, it would need to get smaller. This project was my first foray into making movies as the sole crewmember. I purchased a VHS camcorder on eBay and brought it to my grandpa Bob's place in Bradenton, FL. Ever since I can remember, Bob was known as a master humorist. My own sense of humor was largely informed by the jokes I watched him deliver at family gatherings throughout my childhood. So, I decided to structure the film around some of my favorite jokes I remembered him telling over the years. After we shot the jokes, I began to notice thematic parallels in my own thoughts throughout the visit, and decided to collect the rest of the footage accordingly. The result is a reflection on family, aging, identity, and the fine line between sadness and humor.

This film is dedicated to Bob Weintraub, 1928 - 2018.

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RELATED LINKS:

Bob doing ten minutes of standup comedy in 2015.