Directed by Emile de Antonio • 1989 • United States

The final work by uncompromising political documentarian Emile de Antonio is at once a radical assertion of his defiantly DIY approach to filmmaking, a deeply personal summation of his career, and a scathing attack on a figure whose specter haunted American life for decades. Structured largely as a direct address to the camera, MR. HOOVER AND I finds de Antonio deconstructing the legacy of longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, whose files included a ten-thousand-page dossier on de Antonio himself. Adding to the intimate nature of the project are scenes between de Antonio and his friend, composer John Cage, seen here baking a loaf of bread.