On November 16th, 2021 FOLCS was joined by Emmy Award-winning director Robert Weide for a conversation on a film and friendship 39 years in the making with the iconic Kurt Vonnegut. FOLCS was proud to partner with IFC Films to offer an advance screening of the film, Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time.
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time is a dazzling, worthy tribute to Vonnegut and a compelling introduction for the uninitiated. The feature documentary – the first of its kind on Vonnegut – is a deep, immersive dive into the author’s upbringing and his creative output. It spans his childhood in Indianapolis, his experience as a Prisoner of War in World War II, his long years as a struggling writer, supporting a family as a publicist for General Electric and a car salesman, leading to eventual superstardom following his lightning-bolt anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five.
The film began 39 years ago when young, fledging filmmaker Robert Weide (Curb Your Enthusiasm) wrote a letter to his literary idol proposing a documentary on Vonnegut’s life and work. The resulting film reflects the deep bond Weide and Vonnegut formed over the decades. Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck In Time is first and foremost a biography of a beloved American author, but it also documents a filmmaker’s odyssey as he examines the impact of a writer’s legacy on his own life.
Watch Kurt Vonnegut, Unstuck in Time: Advance Screening and Conversation here.
Robert B. Weide
Director/ Producer/ Writer
Robert Weide began his career as a documentary filmmaker, chronicling iconic American comedians in films that include The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell, the Emmy-winning W.C. Fields Straight Up, Mort Sahl: The Loyal Opposition, and Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth (another Emmy winner and Oscar nominee for Best Feature Documentary).
In 1996, Weide wrote and produced the feature film Mother Night, based on the Kurt Vonnegut novel and starring Nick Nolte, Alan Arkin and John Goodman. In 1999, he produced and directed the HBO comedy special, Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm, which served as the springboard for the Golden Globe-winning series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. Weide served as principal director and Executive Producer for the first five seasons of the series. He was Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Directing for four years running, winning for directing during the third season. He returned to the series during Season 8 to direct the much talked-about episode, “Palestinian Chicken,” which earned him the prestigious DGA Award for comedy direction, as well as another Emmy nomination.
2008 saw the release of Weide’s feature directorial debut, How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, a British production starring Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Jeff Bridges, Gillian Anderson, and Megan Fox. It opened as the #1 film in the UK in October, 2008.
In 2011, Weide returned to his documentary roots with his acclaimed film, Woody Allen: A Documentary. The film was an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival (Classics Division) in 2012 and earned Weide two more Emmy nominations.
In 2014, Weide created, wrote, and directed the beloved British television comedy series Mr. Sloane, starring Nick Frost and Olivia Colman. 2014 also saw the release of the feature film The Giver, co-written by Weide, and adapted from the Newbery Award- winning novel by Lois Lowry. The film starred Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep.
Weide now presents his long-awaited film, Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, an authorized documentary on the author, which Weide commenced filming in 1988.
The official website for his Whyaduck Productions can be found at www.duckprods.com.