Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World opens July 3 at IFC Center in New York. It is a documentary about the poet who won the Pulitzer Prize, directed by Sasha Waters.
Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, Stephen Colbert, Oprah Winfrey, and John Waters all appear to reflect on Oliver's work. The film follows her from a solitary childhood to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she spent decades writing the poems that everyone shares.
Oliver died in 2019. Her work has been texted, read at memorials, and posted without credit on Instagram for years. If you have sent one of her poems to a friend in a hard moment, you already know why she matters.
Before you go, find a recording of Oliver reading her own work. Her voice is in the film.
Everyone has quoted her. Go see her story before it goes digital.
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