217 Films is an independent film company devoted to the American artistic experience. In 2005, Michael Maglaras and Terri Templeton released their first film "Cleophas and His Own: A North Atlantic Tragedy" about the American painter Marsden Hartley's epic narrative of love and loss. Maglaras both directed and played the role of Hartley in this film. In 2008, they released a second film about Hartley called "Visible Silence: Marsden Hartley, Painter and Poet" - the first-ever documentary on the life of Hartley. In 2010, with their film "John Marin: Let the Paint be Paint!" they established, through the first full-length documentary on this important painter, that Marin was one of the fathers of American modernism. All three films, among other distinctions, have been shown to acclaim at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The Sacramento Bee called Michael Maglaras a film maker of "Bergman-like gravitas." His films have been described as "virtuoso filmmaking" (National Gallery of Art) "alive and fresh" (Art New England) and "elegiac and insightful" (Naples Daily News).
If you'd like to learn more about the spoken word, jazz, and alternative rock recording projects of 217 Records, the sister company of 217 Films, click here.
