Love, Gilda

Lisa D'Apolito's 2018 documentary tells the life of the comedian Gilda Radner largely through her own recordings. Radner was in the first cast of Saturday Night Live and the characters she created gave her a permanent place in American television comedy. D'Apolito found her diaries, audio recordings and home videos and built the film around them, so that much of the account comes in the voice of someone who has died. Radner speaks about her childhood, her relationship with her body, her anxieties and how comedy became the way she handled them. The final section covers her ovarian cancer diagnosis and treatment; she died in 1989. Comedians of a later generation including Amy Poehler, Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph read from her writing. It premiered at Tribeca. Who it's for: viewers who like comedy history and documentaries about television. Who it's not for: anyone who would rather not approach cancer and death; the film gives its last section to them.