By José Sarmiento Hinojosa

It should not become as a surprise that Gustav Deutsch(Vienna, 1952), better known from his work with found footage of obscure sources, had decided to do a film about Edward Hopper’s paintings, recreating the story of Shirley’s (a fictional lead character) personal life through the 30’s to the 60’s. “I am interested in the meaning that is given by the image”1, were his words about Film Ist. a Girl & a Gun, and that reflection could easily land in fertile ground when referring to this latest film. Shirley: Visions of Reality, it’s probably 2013’s definitive masterpiece, a film which digs deep into Hopper’s universe and uses it to spark a story which speaks about an era, its politics, its mood but more importantly, an intimate personal journal through one of America’s most convulsed periods.