Bill Cunningham New York (2011)

I had a smile on my face throughout this wonderful documentary from director Richard Press. Cunningham, who has spent the last 45 years photographing stylish pedestrians on the streets of New York, has inadvertently influenced major fashion designers and steered fashion trends simply by chronicling what people, not models, are wearing. When this was filmed, in 2009, he was 80, and every day, on assignment for The New York Times, he's walking the streets looking for someone interesting to photograph (he hasn't let up, he's still at it now). At night he's zig-zagging across the city on his Schwinn, dodging taxis and going to events...sometimes five in one night, just to photograph what people are wearing. His stamina and joie de vivre are remarkable. His ebullience, modesty, and kindness are an anomaly in the cutthroat world of high fashion (and New York). Yet he remains a very mysterious person, and a rarity nowadays...a gentle man. Even ice queen Anna Wintour has a huge smile on her face when talking about him...she's positively bubbly! (Cunningham is probably the only man who can get away with calling her "child" without being castrated) See this, even if fashion isn't your thing, it's fascinating.