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Can you help me find The Cure for Insomnia?

append delete 31 Jul ’11 · 22:55 Martijn

Hi all, long time no seen. I’ve just returned from my holidays and am prepping for university. But between all this business I enjoy surfing the web, reading this board and chatting with friends. Out of the first and the latter grew a funny dare. I dared a friend to watch the complete The Cure for Insomnia if I were to get my hands on it, by any means necessary.

For those of you who do not know: The Cure for Insomnia with its running time of 5220 minutes was once the longest film on our world. It has a very sparse page on Wikipedia: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/The_cure_for_insomnia. Out of the five longest films (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_longest_films_by_running_time) I find on this one and Cinématon to sound interesting and worth wasting time on.

Now the big question is, how do you get your hands on this piece of art? I checked the main stream markets (eBay, Amazon, Play.com) and the underground channels (The Pirate Bay, isoHunt, BTDigg) to no avail. Wikipedia doesn’t supply much to go by other than the artist John Henry Timmis IV… who was always obscure in life (http://www.metafilter.com/80070/Waiting-for-the-CTA) and is now, sadly, deceased.

IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284020/) offers little more, only mentioning The School of the Art Institute of Chicago as publishing company for the film. I will draft an email to them tomorrow but have little faith in it. What department would that email have to go to? I don’t know, in which case they tell you to just send it off to the “Webmaster”. Last time I tried to contact a big institution through their webmaster I never got referred to the right people.

Any ideas?

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append delete 23 Aug ’17 · 00:55 #51. Insomniac

I think I'm with everyone that made it here when I say I want this movie found and watched! If there can be an update to the progress, so others can join in the search that would be great!! Keep up the good work!

append delete 25 Oct ’17 · 05:40 #52. lolar

i can't

append delete 25 Apr ’18 · 04:10 #53. Rae

It's a long shot but I found someone on reddit with the same username as the IDMb person. I messaged them. Hoping for a message back!!

append delete 11 Jun ’18 · 08:31 #54. Ernst

Nothing new?

append delete 11 Jun ’18 · 10:18 #55. Martijn

@Ernst not from my end. I think I contacted all the people I thought might know something when I first started this thread, and most of that just went unanswered.

I don’t really have the time to take up the hunt anew though. Maybe someone who bumps into this post will have more time (and luck) on their hands.

append delete 03 Jul ’18 · 08:02 #56. Yogi

Anything new found about this movie. Its summer again this time 2018 so i got sometime to reaserch

append delete 03 Jul ’18 · 10:38 #57. Martijn

@Yogi I have a very busy summer, so I have nothing to add. Especially not since my last reply in June 😉

I think I might be the only one actively keeping an eye on this topic – and only because I help moderate this forum and therefore see every reply to everything. If you have time and you want to pick up some of the leads mentioned earlier in this topic: please do and let us know your results!

append delete 09 Jul ’18 · 01:59 #58. matthew

Not sure if you know about it, but I just found on youtube one of J.T. IV's songs, in the comment section a user claims to be John's nephew-in-law. His channel doesn't look as an active one, but why don't try? I would like it, but I can't just because of my bad english. And if I made some errors while writing just let me know about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMxLWGrAFqg

append delete 10 Jul ’18 · 12:27 #59. Martijn

@matthew Other than an empty G+ account, the YouTube account you are talking about (https://www.youtube.com/user/mscynergie/about) doesn’t seem to have any contact details listed. So not sure how I would even try.

If other people (with a. more time and b. more YouTube knowledge) want to try and reach out, go for it, I guess.

I wouldn’t pay too much mind to language skills. This is the internet after all. English isn’t my first language either. And you can always link people to this thread if you do not feel like explaining the entire thing.

append delete 10 Aug ’18 · 10:58 #60. Teo

John Henry Thimmis IV Alison known as J.T.IV made an amazing punk record called Cosmic Lightning that got a reissue on vynl and the dim you are searching for comes with it on DVD. I was able to find it on Discogs

append delete 10 Aug ’18 · 17:56 #61. Martijn

The new release of Cosmic Lightning [1] comes with a film called “Cannibal Orgy”. While it is another J.T. IV creation, and even stars Groban, it’s not the same film.

[1]: http://www.dragcity.com/products/cosmic-lightning

append delete 06 Apr ’19 · 13:51 #62. Adamm

Just recently(4 days ago to be exact) a new review of the film appeared on IMDb. The author is claiming to have known Lee Groban for over 25 years. If somebody's interested they could try messaging the author of the review about the film. I would do that myself, as I've just recently heard about the film and read this thread, but I doubt my skills in writing official mails/messages in english.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284020/reviews
https://www.imdb.com/user/ur21099471

15 Aug ’19 · 20:30 #63. IceNeverF

This post was deleted by its owner

append delete 22 Sep ’19 · 07:32 #64. Leonardo_Suzuki

2019 and I'm still here...

append delete 25 Nov ’19 · 07:03 #65. Mason

Its almost the end of 2019 (November 25th as of writing this). Just listened to the punk album bit of a trip but pretty good. Would also like to have this film found, Guinness might be a possible lead since they archive any records. I wouldn’t know who to talk to but just a suggestion, this is more or less a last ditch effort in helping get this film out there again.

append delete 14 Oct ’20 · 01:31 #66. Leandro

I have found this thread recently because my interest in watching this film was present for a very long time, and I'm glad that through the years, people have kept their interest for this film. Does anyone have any leads?

append delete 11 Apr ’21 · 23:01 #67. Tornado Sam

Guys, I'm not sure about the validity of those IMDb reviews, as one of them sounds like a total joke, one sounds like it was written by someone who had seen it awhile ago and the others are iffy. From what I've heard, this film is lost, with no known copies of it existing. The people who have reviewed it don't seem to know any details, they just go off of the online descriptions. I know you all want to see it, and I'm interested in these longest movies ever made, but this one seems to be forever lost.

append delete 03 Mar ’22 · 05:04 #68. A travesty

Damn shame, this is such a dissapointment, 2022 and we still can’t find some movie…

append delete 26 May ’22 · 09:20 #69. TheAlice

Ok I've done some digging and I've found something. On his obituary on Legacy.com, someone who claims to have known Lee Groban says that they have a copy of The Cure for Insomnia and will treasure it for the rest of his life. That quote makes me think he'll still have it. Here's the page: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/chicagotribune/name/lee-groban-obituary?id=2622431. I need some help because the only things listed are his name, Bart Bukwa, His location in Evanston, IL, and the fact he was 9 in 71 so was born in 61 or 62. I'm not amazing at finding people so if anyone can please help me look for him as he may have one of the only copies left.

append delete 13 Jun ’22 · 10:58 #70. Zu

I have a number that possibly connects to Bart Bukwa, I haven’t had the courage to call it myself, but I am incredibly interested in finding this media.
Please let me know.

(773) 505-4393

append delete 04 Jul ’22 · 09:39 #71. TheAlice

Ok I think I've found him. A Bart, or Edward, Bukwa who lives in Chicago IL, previous address in Evanston. He's 59 years old which is plausible give the information he put on the obituary. found it here: https://www.spokeo.com/Edward-Bukwa/Illinois/Chicago/p2935785061 Though Spokeo is kinda dodgy as contact info is behind a paywall and I don't really want to do that. I'll try find another way but if anyone wants to pay then go ahead, hopefully it is the same one and not just some weird coincidence.

append delete 08 Feb ’23 · 16:01 #72. walktothepit

I sent this email to Deborah Groban:

Hello,

I hope this email finds you well in lovely Detroit, MI. I am very sorry to disturb you through your work email, but I am writing from [redacted] as a student extremely interested in your late brother's film "The Cure for Insomnia". I have followed the search for this film for some time now and wanted to reach out personally in an attempt to find this essential piece of film history. I am sure you have gotten many messages like this before, but I want to say that this film, although I have never seen it, means a lot to me as a form of extreme artistic dedication and I am willing to do whatever I can to watch it. Obviously, I am wondering if you have a copy of the film or know anyone who may possibly have a copy. I would be more than willing to pay for any necessary fees in digitizing, uncovering, repairing, or shipping a copy of the film. Thank you so much and I really hope to hear back from you.

Feel free to call me [redacted] or email me at [redacted]

Sincerely,
[redacted]

append delete 08 Feb ’23 · 16:24 #73. walktothepit

My message to the Art Institute of Chicago Archives

Hello,

I hope this email finds you well in beautiful Chicago. I am writing from [redacted] a student fascinated by experimental film. I understand that The Cure for Insomnia was screened at the School of the AIC in 1976. The film is an incredibly important piece of film history as a testament to the extreme dedication of man to his craft. For the last several decades, curious inquisitors such as myself have been unable to view this 85 hour long film or read the poem by L.D. Groban featured therein. I am asking if you happen to have any idea how I could gain access to this film. I think a proper investigation into the archives at AIC and beyond is beyond necessary for this piece of history worthy of preservation.
Please let me know if there is any chance I can get in touch with someone directly to talk about possibly uncovering this essential piece of film history.

Thank you,
[redacted]

append delete 10 Feb ’23 · 15:46 #74. walktothepit

Below is an email I sent to the Jewish Community Council of Chicago Film Festival (JCC Chicago Film Festival)

Hello,

I hope this email finds you well in beautiful Chicago, Illinois. I am a student at [redacted] who is extremely interested in Jewish filmic history and Jewish history at large (I am actually in a Jewish Studies class right now as I write this!). For some time now I have been particularly interested in the missing film The Cure for Insomnia from 1976. It was screened at the Art Institute of Chicago upon release. The film spans 85 hours and consists almost entirely of L.D. Groban reading his 4000+ page poem. This film has been missing from the public for decades and many lost media and film nerds such as myself have been working tirelessly to uncover this essential piece of Jewish film history and film history at large. Please let me know if there is anything we could do to try and uncover the film or if you have any possible leads of where I could find it. I will be visiting Chicago this summer in an attempt to find this film.

Thanks so much,
[redacted]
[redacted]

append delete 10 Feb ’23 · 15:50 #75. walktothepit

Below is an email I sent to The Jewish Museum in New York City. I specifically sent this to their Film Festival address.

Hello,

I hope this email finds you well in beautiful New York City. I am a student at [redacted] who is extremely interested in Jewish filmic history and Jewish history at large (I am actually in a Jewish Studies class right now as I write this!). For some time now I have been particularly interested in the missing film The Cure for Insomnia from 1976. It was screened at the Art Institute of Chicago upon release. The film spans 85 hours and consists almost entirely of L.D. Groban reading his 4000+ page poem. This film has been missing from the public for decades and many lost media and film nerds such as myself have been working tirelessly to uncover this essential piece of Jewish film history and film history at large. Please let me know if there is anything we could do to try and uncover the film or if you have any possible leads of where I could find it. I will be visiting Chicago and NYC this summer in an attempt to find this film.

Thanks so much,
[redacted]
[redacted]

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