Stay Updated

Read our Weekly Gayzette for the latest (and gayest) movie screenings, community events, and industry news from the Bay Area and beyond!

You're viewing the Frameline15 (1991) archive held in 1991. Explore this years festival

Thank You and Good Night

Directed by Jan Oxenberg1991USA/UK83 mins

A lost-and-found revelation from indie film and TV maverick Jan Oxenberg is a docu-fantasy narrative focused on the filmmaker’s hilarious, messy, Jewish family as they prepare to say goodbye to someone they love. Narrated by a cardboard cutout of Oxenberg’s scowling child self, Thank You and Good Night takes us on a journey through the proceedings, attempting to defeat death and never say goodbye.

An early Sundance hit but virtually unseen for decades, the film reemerges as a singular, uncategorizable exploration of the meaning of life, death, and the tangled stuff that is a family. In this poignant, hilarious, and complex reflection on letting go, Oxenberg innovatively transforms personal tragedy into universally resonant art that is now claiming its rightful place as a classic of independent cinema.

Quick links
Director
Jan Oxenberg
Year
1991
Country
USA, UK
Running Time
83 mins
Language
English
Section
Audience Award Winners
Program Note Writer
Janus Films