Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost

In the most personal film of his career, Ben Stiller (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, NYFF51 Centerpiece) tells the story of his parents: the groundbreaking husband-and-wife comedy duo of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, whose television and theater appearances were a beloved mainstay of 1960s and ’70s American culture. After Anne and Jerry passed away in 2015 and 2020, respectively, Stiller dug into the vast treasure trove of recordings, footage, letters, and other ephemera with which they documented their personal and professional lives. These extraordinary archives are the foundation of this immensely moving—and, of course, very funny—documentary, beautifully directed by Stiller and edited by Adam Kurnitz (The Velvet Underground, NYFF59), which charts, with love and candor, the challenges and insecurities that are part of any show-business family’s essential makeup. Though featuring perceptive interviews with such friends and collaborators as Christopher Walken and John Guare, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost is above all a true multigenerational family project, made with the collaboration of Stiller’s sister, Amy Stiller; his wife, Christine Taylor Stiller; and children Ella and Quinlin Stiller. An Apple Original Films release.