HOW DARK MY LOVE

USA | 2025 | ΕΓΧΡΩΜΟ | DCP | 109' | ENGLISH

Joe Coleman spent four years of his life painting a large-scale portrait of his photographer wife and dominatrix muse, Whitney Ward, in the familiar collage style that characterizes the paintings of this formidable underground artist. It is a laborious tribute and a clear gesture of love on his part. But as the details of the portrait gradually enlarge, so do some of the wilder aspects of the life of a couple on the edge, whose eccentric habits and behavior range from the paradoxical and the macabre to the outrageous. And this film, without judging the two characters at its center, uses them for a lively reflection on art, individual freedom, the exorcism of personal demons through creation, and the unapologetic way in which each of us chooses to live our life and define our coexistence with another person. It is a playfully grotesque and at the same time unexpectedly tender documentary, genuinely rock 'n' roll at heart and clearly nostalgic for a legendary era and a handful of unconventional artists who managed to turn their lives into art and their art into life. L.K.

Winner of the 2025 Tribeca Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.

In attendance of the filmmakers (Scott Gracheff, director, Josh & Jason Diamond, producers), Joe Coleman, Whitney Ward and actress Asia Argento.

DIRECTOR:Scott Gracheff
SCREENWRITER:Scott Gracheff
DoP: Gregg de Domenico
MUSIC: Gary Kotlyar
EDITOR: Tyler Hubby

SCOTT GRACHEFF
Multi-Emmy Award winning director and producer dedicated to highlighting voices seldom heard in the mass media. His documentary work includes the 2004 Emmy Award winning “Return to the Valley”, exploring the lives of Japanese Americans rebuilding their communities after mass incarceration by the U.S. government, and "Soldados" that highlights the experience of Latino WWII soldiers, which received a 2008 Emmy nomination.
 
FILMOGRAPHY
2025 How Dark My Love
2013 The Rugby Player