Remembering Filmmaker Al Reinert (FOR ALL MANKIND)

We were heartbroken this week to learn that one of our much-loved shining stars of the Texas film community, Al Reinert, passed away over the holiday. While Al was perhaps best known for his Academy Award-nominated screenplay, APOLLO 13, he was a passionate non-fiction storyteller who worked closely with our artist services team here at AFS on several recent documentaries, including  AN UNREAL DREAM (2013), about the false imprisonment of Texan Michael Morton, and the John James Audubon film, AUDUBON (2016).

Al’s 1989 immersive, poetic documentary about the Apollo missions, FOR ALL MANKIND (nominated for an Academy Award), is as unforgettable as the man himself. We had the great pleasure of hosting what we expected to be a semi-regular retrospective screening of the film several years ago, not realizing at the time it would be the last time we’d have Al in attendance. You can watch the fascinating Q&A here, with Al and a truly incredible group of retired Apollo mission ground controllers. This will remain one of our most special memories of our work with Al.

We will miss our friend, who was endlessly warm, kind-hearted and curious. Despite the fact that he could have been a Hollywood insider, he felt more at home in the hills of Wimberley than southern California. He followed his own passions in filmmaking, which led him to make beautiful and unusual films on subjects that fascinated him. In short, he was the consummate Texas filmmaker—big-hearted and creatively adventurous. You can read more about Al, his life and work, in this obituary from the Houston Chronicle.

Contributed by Holly Herrick