Gertrude

Synopsis

Following a non-linear structure that spans over 120 years, the film interweaves present day vérité work, archival materials and dreamlike explorations into the paintings themselves to unfurl the complicated world of a tight-knit cluster of Chicago artists who convened at Gertrude’s infamous salons in Hyde Park.

This ensemble of friends includes Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Wendell Wilcox, Thornton Wilder, James Purdy, Karl Preibe, Charles Sebree and Gertrude’s second husband, the failed cat burglar Frank Sandiford. But their iconic gatherings were extinguished at the discovery of a devastating betrayal, one that would linger with Gertrude for the rest of her life and continue for generations after, reaching directly to our present day.