So Late So Soon

Artists Jackie and Don Seiden have been married for five decades and in that time, they have each created distinctive art practices while living in their colorful house in Chicago. So Late So Soon intimately follows Jackie and Don as they contend with the effects of deterioration on their home, art, and bodies. (KM)

World premiere at 2020 True/False Film Fest. Official Selection of DOC NYC, Indie Memphis Film Festival, Milwaukee Film Festival, and Wisconsin Film Festival.

Jackie and Don Seiden are Chicago-artists who have been married for five decades, making all manner of eccentric and moving sculptures, installations, and video works, turning even their house into a life-long artistic practice. To incredibly intimate footage of the two interacting and creating together, first-time director and cinematographer Daniel Hymanson weaves in archival footage and interviews of the Seidens through thick and thin. Though So Late So Soon starts off as a quirky character profile, the film quickly takes on darker tones as Jackie and Don confront the effects of aging and of care taking for their beloved Victorian home. Can they hold onto their relationship and their home, which is a repository of their love and their work? A longitudinal project which Hymanson filmed over many years, this film is personal in many ways; Hymanson, as a toddler, was a student in one of Jackie’s art classes. As such, Jackie’s infectious energy and support of termite-like modalities of art-making make her a documentary star. As a filmmaker, Hymanson is invested in sensitively conveying both Jackie’s practice, an inquiry into the temporal nature of materials, and its reverberating effects on everything around her, including the film. Tenderly edited by Harvard graduate Isidore Bethel, this film locates memory-formation and the vitality of a life well-lived within the creative process. (AS)

“While Jackie and Don are funny and fascinating subjects on their own, Hymanson’s formal confidence elevates ‘So Late So Soon’ to heights that the Seidens couldn’t reach by themselves. Rigorous compositions are mixed together with fly-on-the-wall footage that highlight performativity without feeling too stagey.” — Vikram Murthi, Rogerebert.com