Seattle, WA

A Seattle Filmmaker’s Search for ‘The Invisible Father’ | South Seattle Emerald

Published

3 years ago

June 11, 2022

A Seattle Filmmaker’s Search for ‘The Invisible Father’ | South Seattle Emerald

by Beverly Aarons

Piero Heliczer, Beat poet, experimental filmmaker, and writer, was a central determine within the Sixties and ʼ70s underground artwork scene. He printed dozens of poems, produced not less than 24 movies, and took part in Andy Warhol’s Movie-Makers’ Cooperative. However within the early Nineties, whereas studying his poetry at a venue on the well-known St. Marks Place, Piero was one thing a lot smaller and bizarre: a drunk, raveled, absentee father underneath the important gaze of his 19-year-old daughter, Thérèse Heliczer.

“How might my mother have fallen in love with this individual [standing] earlier than me?” thought Thérèse, who now lives in Seattle. “I used to be scared of him,” Thérèse mentioned of her dad, “as a result of I used to be being protected against him indirectly.”

The individuals within the viewers have been enraptured by each phrase her father spoke, however Thérèse couldn’t connect with his poems. He was celebrated and well-respected within the artwork scene, however he was additionally a humiliation for her and her household. There’s a photograph of younger Thérèse standing together with her father on that day in St. Marks, her arms crossed over her physique. It’s clear she didn’t know what to make of this man who was her father, however solely in essentially the most summary which means of the phrase.

A long time later, Thérèse has produced The Invisible Father, a documentary about Piero’s life that, after two years on the movie competition circuit, was simply launched nationally this spring.

Heliczer (with digital camera) and members of The Velvet Underground. Heliczer produced not less than 24 movies, and took part in Andy Warhol’s Movie-Makers’ Cooperative. (Photograph: Adam Ritchie)

Lengthy earlier than Thérèse’s aunt and grandmother escorted her to St. Marks Place to fulfill her father for the primary time, she had a longing to know him. However each time she introduced him up, there was a contagious sense of secrecy and warning that made her surprise if he was harmful. In any case, his personal mom wouldn’t give him her handle and would solely meet him in public locations.

What Thérèse didn’t know as a baby was that her father was affected by untreated psychological sickness.

She would later uncover that her father had misplaced his personal dad in essentially the most brutal manner attainable: He was tortured and murdered, in Nazi-occupied Italy, by the Gestapo simply weeks earlier than the top of World Conflict II. At simply 6 years outdated, Piero was despatched to establish his father’s mutilated physique. Later in his life, Piero developed schizophrenia and ended up dwelling on the streets of New York after which Normandy, France.

He would die at 56 years outdated when he was hit by a truck whereas using his moped.

For Thérèse Heliczer, Piero’s loss of life wasn’t the top of her relationship with him. Hidden inside her was a tiny seed of need to essentially know her dad, to know him past the floor chaos of his life. That need would develop and blossom as soon as she had her personal daughter.

“I used to be seeing my daughter develop up with a father, which I had not had,” Thérèse mentioned. “And so, I began to sort of see the impression that having a dad had in her life.” She talked about her ideas to a buddy who prompt that she make a movie about it.

Begun in 2012 and completed in 2020, the making of the documentary The Invisible Father despatched Thérèse on a journey throughout america and Europe retracing her father’s inventive life as a poet and experimental filmmaker. She attended the Velvet Underground exhibit in Paris, France, which featured her father’s work. And he or she sought out his friends, pals, and admirers who might share recollections, pictures, and photographs of a person who was simply as a lot a thriller as he was a legend. However via that course of, she was taken on one other journey, one which was each emotional and psychological.

“Making this movie has been the perfect type of remedy for me,” mentioned Thérèse. “The opposite impression of constructing this movie was truly attending to know my mom extra and higher, and understanding her decisions,” Thérèse mentioned.

Still depicting Thérèse Heliczer seated in a kitchen smiling. — Now dwelling in Seattle, Thérèse Heliczer remembers feeling shielded from her father as a baby. Making “The Invisible Father” helped her piece collectively particulars concerning the advanced man Piero Heliczer was, and higher perceive her mom’s decisions. (Photograph: Dan McComb)

At one level within the analysis course of, Thérèse found Tremendous 8 footage of her dad and her 20-something mother (pregnant with Thérèse) pleased and in love with one another. She confirmed it to her mom. And the expertise of watching her mom react to it was a transformative expertise for Thérèse. “I had by no means seen that. I had by no means seen these younger bohemian individuals, that have been pleased and in love, that have been my mother and father.”

Earlier than producing The Invisible Father, Thérèse Heliczer didn’t “absolutely perceive or have a way of the brilliance and the poetry and the inventive and the inventive facet of [Piero].” However in making the movie, Thérèse “got here to phrases with the entire individual that he was.” She additionally supplied her personal daughter a connection to Piero Heliczer as her grandfather, absent of the disgrace and concern that tainted a lot of Thérèse’s childhood understanding of him.

“I’m not embarrassed to be his daughter anymore,” mentioned Thérèse. “I’m not ashamed. Now I do know that he was a really sophisticated individual.”

The Invisible Father is accessible now on most streaming providers.

Beverly Aarons is a author, artist, and sport developer. She works throughout disciplines, exploring the intersections of historical past, hidden present realities, and imagined future worlds. She makes a speciality of making unseen views seen and goals to infuse all of her inventive work with a deep sense of emotionality.

? Featured Picture: Piero Heliczer (proper) was a beat poet, experimental filmmaker, and writer well-respected within the artwork world, however in his family he was an absentee father affected by untreated psychological sickness. In “The Invisible Father,” his daughter Thérèse, retraces his steps in her quest to study extra concerning the artist he was, and the historical past of her family. Pictured with Patti Chenis, Thérèse’s mom. (Photograph: Gerard Malanga)

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Seattle, WA

State ferries: A better idea from Nordic countries

Published

8 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

State ferries: A better idea from Nordic countries

Re: “Diesel or hybrid ferries? How about simply reliable” (Jan. 7, Opinion): Gov. Jay Inslee, Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson and The Seattle Times editorial board are asking the wrong question: diesel or hybrid ferries? Inslee and the majority of Democrats support…

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Seattle, WA

Manhunt underway for Mason County shooting suspect

Published

16 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Manhunt underway for Mason County shooting suspect

Manuhunt underway for Mason County assault suspect

Mason County deputies are looking for a man wanted in a shooting in Belfair on Monday.

MASON COUNTY, Wash. – The Mason County Sheriff’s Office is currently searching for a convicted felon wanted in a recent shooting.

The sheriff’s office says Michael Allen Beyer is wanted for first-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Deputies believe Beyer was involved in a shooting that happened in Belfair on January 6.

Beyer is considered armed and dangerous. If you see him, do not approach him and call 911 immediately.

Anyone with information regarding Beyer’s whereabouts is asked to call Detective Helser at 360-427-9670 x657, or Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

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Seattle, WA

Two more Seattle restaurants close due to minimum wage hike

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Two more Seattle restaurants close due to minimum wage hike

Two more Seattle restaurants are calling it quits thanks to the untenable minimum wage hike.

At the same time that the Seattle minimum wage rose from $19.97 an hour to $20.76 an hour, the city ended the tip credit of $2.72. Under the previous rules, restaurants were able to pay $17.25 hourly wage if their staff earned at least $2.72 in tips per hour. But as cost of business continues to skyrocket in Seattle, a minimum wage hike without a tip credit is simply untenable for many small businesses.

Jackson’s Catfish Corner in Seattle’s Central District closed its doors in this new year. In an interview with Converge Media, owner Terrell Jackson argued Seattle is too expensive to operate in.

“I know that the minimum wages went up to 20 bucks an hour … I know that’s hard for my business as a small Black business,” Jackson said. “I’m not Amazon or Walgreens or Walmart who can pay their employees that much.”

Jackson isn’t alone in his complaints.

More from Jason Rantz: Panic as Seattle restaurants may not survive massive minimum wage shift

A second West Seattle eatery closes, citing the minimum wage hike

Bel Gatto, a bakery and café, became the second West Seattle eatery to close its doors over the Seattle minimum wage hike. The owner posted a sign to the front door to thank supporters but said she can’t afford to stay open anymore.

“Our revenues, unfortunately, are not able to cover the close to 20% increase in mandated wages, salaries and payroll taxes put into effect by the Seattle City Council effective 1/1/25. This ruling has made the continuation of our bakery operations untenable,” the sign read.

The owner, Peter Levy, explained to the West Seattle Blog that, “we were approaching close to a break even status in the last quarter of 2024, but the requirement to absorb another $4,000 per month in payroll expenses with the new mandate by the city put a break even further from our grasp which is what led to the closure.”

Last week, a video by Corina Luckenbach, owner of Bebop Waffle Shop in West Seattle, went viral as she said the minimum wage hike was forcing her to close after 11 years. She said she didn’t have an extra $32,000 a year to pay her staff what the city mandates.

More from Jason Rantz: Democrats blame Los Angeles fires on climate change to deflect from their own complicity

Will more restaurants close?

Ahead of the minimum wage hike, restauranteurs offered many warnings over what’s to come.

Ethan Stowell operates a number of Seattle’s top restaurants, including How to Cook a Wolf, Staple and Fancy, and Tavolata. He warned this change would be exceptionally costly for businesses in an industry notorious for razor-thin margins. And restaurants can’t merely raise menu prices again.

“I know everybody wants to say, ‘Just raise things (on the menu) a dollar or two,’ and that’s what it’ll be. That’s very simplified math. I wish it was that easy, but it’s not. This is a large increase that’s probably large enough to be equal to or close to what most restaurants in Seattle profit,” Stowell told “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Portage Bay Cafe co-owner Amy Fair Gunnar noted the minimum wage change will cost her about $45,000 more a month. She said restaurants will have to “seriously change what they’re doing or they’re going to close their doors.”

More from Jason Rantz: Here’s why Seattle residents vow to stop tipping in new year

Ignoring the warnings, mocking the business people

The warnings from restaurant owners were mostly ignored or mocked.

Efforts by the Seattle City Council to address the forthcoming crisis fell apart after activists said they didn’t want restaurants to get an exception. Council president Sara Nelson told “The Jason Rantz Show” they will take up the issue again this year but there’s no specific idea yet to forward for legislation. The Mayor of Seattle, Bruce Harrell, has been almost completely absent from the issue.

Left-wing voices, meanwhile, claim to not care. That if businesses “can’t afford to pay a living wage,” then they shouldn’t be in business.

One reporter with The Stranger mocked one of the closures, quipping on X, “Has anyone ever eaten at bebop waffle lol.” Left-wing Seattleites condemned the business for “creating a right wing media darling to complain about paying people a living wage.”

KING 5 reporter Maddie White helped elevate this talking point by citing the National Low Income Housing Coalition, claiming “the average renter needs to make upwards of $40 an hour to afford rent.” But she’s quoting a stat for two-bedrooms. Minimum wage jobs aren’t meant to cover the cost of a single person renting a two-bedroom home or apartment.

Ironically, as activists dismiss the concerns of small business owners, they fail to acknowledge the inevitable consequence: when those businesses shut down, people lose jobs. A $20.76 hourly minimum wage — even with a $2.72 tip credit — means nothing if you’re unemployed.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on X, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jasonrantz

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