Praise for Brad Bernstein's FAR OUT ISN'T FAR ENOUGH
"Dazzling, engrossing!" - Michelle Orange, The Village Voice
"CRITIC'S PICK! Brad Bernstein's captivating documentary is a portrait of an illustrator, Tomi Ungerer; a time, largely the 1950s and '60s; a place, New York City (mostly); and an industry, children's book publishing. It is also a record of a man's tormented youth, his broad artistic impulses and the price he paid for following them. Among the speakers on camera are an erudite Jules Feiffer and a grizzled, vehement Maurice Sendak. But no one is more compelling than Mr. Ungerer, whose eloquence and luminous eyes command attention. Charming animated sequences offer a tantalizing taste of this creator's singular talents, underscoring the grievous wrongs dealt him." - Andy Webster, The New York Times
" Excellent!" - Michael O’Sullivan,
The Washington Post
"Excellent! As intriguing as the facts are, much of the documentary's charm is the way in which it embeds the work…The imagery keeps coming to life."
- Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times
"Easily the most wildly fascinating artist profiled in a documentary since CRUMB."
- Christopher Campbell, Movies.com
"Grade -A. Beyond the usual talking head interviews, most notably Ungerer himself, a super annuated pixie with a naughty grin, and colleague and No. 1 fan Maurice Sendak (“Where the Wild Things Are”), the film brilliantly incorporates Ungerer’s art — innocent, sexual, political and personal — into its visuals in ways that are as instructive as they are delightful." - James Verniere, The Boston Herald
“This film is not only a beautiful tribute to one of the most creative artists of the 20th century; it's steeped in Ungerer's unique brand of satirical humor. It's a tall order to make a film that does justice to Tomi Ungerer, but Brad Bernstein has done it. He makes the drawings come to life in delightful and imaginative ways."- Leslie Sisman, The Huffington Post
"A violent, scatological, sex-crazed mind shouldn't keep a man from being a giant in the world of children's literature, says Brad Bernstein's 'Far Out Isn't Far Enough.' The thoroughly entertaining doc hopes to restore Ungerer to his place in the kid-book pantheon -- a project started when Phaidon reissued his books in 2008 -- but it also establishes the artist's place in the history of mid-century commercial and political illustration. Devotees of graphic arts will love it, but the film's appeal isn't limited to that niche."
- John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter
"Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story is a brilliant, original and highly engrossing feature-length documentary." - Broadway World
"Far Out Isn’t Far Enough is a lively, engaging film about a seminal literary figure with an infectious love of life and art, and a unique take on the ills of society, that is a joy to behold." - This Week in NY
"The colorful personality and heterogeneous body of work of illustrator-author Tomi Ungerer is vividly brought to life…brings a clearly cinematic sensibility to Ungerer’s youth and initial success as an author of such children’s books as 'The Three Robbers', and the artist’s subsequent parallel career in adult-targeted fare, including Vietnam-era protest posters and top-drawer erotica." - Variety
"One of America's most prolific and inventive advertising, editorial and children's book author/illustrators, Ungerer busted taboos in the '60s and forced the children's publishing establishment to accept otherwise unconventional characters as protagonists, like Crictor, a boa constrictor. No one had ever dared to make a kids book about a snake before. Of course, breaking taboos rarely leads to an easy career, even for a genius…A special treat, is seeing Ungerer's work animated by Brandon Dumlao. Ungerer's expressively minimalist, often wickedly comic brush and pencil work lends itself well to movement." - The Atlantic
"Ungerer is certainly an irrepressible force." - Michael Atkinson, Time Out NY
"In Tomi Ungerer, an octogenarian illustrator with an eclectic oeuvre and strong perspective, debut director Brad Bernstein has captured a soul personable and dynamic enough to justify the talking-head format of Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story. With his piercing blue eyes and disarmingly dry humor, Ungerer is a lucid narrator with a crisp memory; at once sincere and cheeky, he cannily recounts his eight decades of experience that influenced his work and worldview." - Nick McCarthy, Slant Magazine
"Thoroughly entertaining." - John Defore, Film Journal International
"If you have never heard of Tomi Ungerer, looked at his children's books, seen his anti-Vietnam War posters or glimpsed his erotica, this visually creative documentary, lovingly directed by Brad Bernstein, will be the perfect introduction to a seemingly fearless man, who is being arrested every night in his dreams." - Anne-Katrin Titze, Eye for Film
"Director Bernstein is smart enough to know when you're filming a force of nature like Ungerer, you try to be as unobtrusive as possible and do your best to be nothing more than a conduit between your subject and the audience. Not only has he succeeding in creating an incredibly intimate portrait of this complex and intelligent man, he has done the world a great service by reintroducing us to the work of an artistic genius whose work has been ignored for far too long." - Richard R.B Marcus, Leap in the Dark
"Engaging. Bernstein reveals a survivor of the German occupation of his Alsatian town, a hip artist who migrated to New York during the Golden Age of Illustration (the 1950s), conquered children’s lit but who was never satisfied with the pablum that the medium seemed to demand." -Roger Moore, Movie Nation
"Art can and perhaps should challenge us, or at the very least make demands on our thoughts rather than merely feeble requests for our attention. Far Out Isn’t Far Enough, Brad Bernstein’s documentary about children’s book illustrator/erotica producer Tomi Ungerer celebrates its subject, and by scratching past the broadest, hence most superficial, encomiums, gets us to celebrate him as well." - Kenneth Morefield, 1 More Film Blog
"With Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story, director Brad Bernstein’s first feature, we are blessed with the opportunity to delve into the incredible life story of an often overlooked, but legendary figure of modern illustrator." - Jordan M. Smith, Ion Cinema
“It's an equal treat for mind and eye.”-Anthony Mangos, peoplesworld.org
"An enchanting voyage through that elusive entity known as the creative imagination."
- Prairie Miller, News Blaze
“Ungerer is recognized as one of the most respected and influential illustrators and graphic designers of the 20th century, and he has inspired “Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story.” It combines interviews of the artist with interviews from Ungerer’s admiring peers, Maurice Sendak and Jules Feiffer, and illustration expert Steven Heller.”-Nell Minow, Chicago Sun Times
"Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story contextualizes an entire generation of young readers by telling one artist’s story: Tomi Ungerer. If there was ever a film that could embody such a surreal, political, controversial and beloved artist, it is this film. There’s just enough absurdity, strangeness and erotica to keep your eyes irrevocably glued to the screen."- Gabrielle Ewing, Redesign Revolution
"Far Out Isn’t Far Enough is a buoyant and vivid documentary film, painting an inspiring picture of an award-winning illustrator, trilingual author, brilliant satirist, and dedicated humanitarian advocate." - C. Edwards, Cartoon Brew
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