WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?
Director: Morgan Neville
2018, 94, PG-13
Cast: With: Joanne Rogers, McColm Cephas Jr., François Scarborough Clemmons, Yo-Yo Ma, Joe Negri, and Fred Rogers in archival footage.
The surprise hit of this year’s Sundance Film Festival is a documentary on children’s show icon Fred Rogers. The Academy Award® winning director of 20 Feet from Stardom, Morgan Neville, gives Rogers his due as more than the slightly dorky guy in the cardigan sweater, but as a deeply philosophical man with great compassion and respect for the emotional lives of children. Co-stars, guests, and family members combine to paint a more complex picture of a man who struggled as a Christian to understand a quickly changing world.
“When I really tried to distill what Fred was talking about to one thing, I came up with the phrase radical kindness.” – director Morgan Neville.
“By the end … no, I wasn’t crying, there was something in my eye.” – Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
