…The difference in this case is that there was plenty of back history to search through that should have given fair warning when engaging Werner Herzog… preservation is not always in the maintenance of the “object” itself, but also of its context and its experiential nature… Unless you feel like getting elected to Congress and rewriting American copyright law you should be scanning regional film festivals for the next time this screens… Morris excels at exposing the human side of oddballs, geniuses, and monsters…

What shocked me equally was the richness of eastern European history – even of recent vintage – that I had not been taught while growing up, simply because we did not deign to study the enemy. Some shackles are much less noticeable, I suppose.

One of the things that drove me into the field of archiving and preservation was this strong feeling that all people deserve equal access to information, culture, and education. Impossible? Maybe. Can I do something to increase access just a little bit more? Yes.

This is a magical work of art that surprises and delights me every time I view it on the train, right up there with walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and seeing the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry.