The Pacific Northwest, stretching from Oregon to British Columbia, has become a vital home for some of the North America’s most promising film talents. CASCADIAN FACTS AND FICTIONS gives us insight into some of that regions most vibrant non-fiction filmmakers. This program, introduced by Northwest Film Forum program director Adam Sekuler, features films from Webster Crowell, Serge Gregory, Vanessa Renwick, Craig Downing, Sarah Jane Lapp, Larry Kent, and Matt McCormick, displaying just the tip of the iceberg from the regions wide-ranging talents.
Last Call 1 – 5 <span”>by Webster Crowell
( Seattle, WA, 2010, 7 minutes, DVD)
Animation based on recordings from the filmmakers apartment window at 2am.
When Herons Dream by Serge Gregory
(Seattle, WA, 2009, 10:34 minutes, DVD)
The film imagines the perspective of a Great Blue Heron as it moves throughout the seasons and Northwest landscape shaped by water. But more than this, “When Herons Dream” is a distilled medative work in black and white shot on real film and utterly beautiful in its simplicity.
Portrait #3: House of Sound by Vanessa Renwick
(Portland, OR, 2009, 11 minutes, DVD)
Radio reminiscences and a photography-driven visit to the neighborhood of record shop “House of Sound” long after the wrecking ball, this film reflects the heart of a pre-digital era of music. Renwick’s latest in her ongoing Portrait series of stories in Portland, Oregon.
This True Story of Dad Club by Craig Downing
(Seattle, WA , 2008, 5 minutes, DVD)
A memoir about the dark distance between a daughter and her dad.
Chronicles of A Professional Eulogist by Sarah Jane Lapp
(Seattle, WA, 2009, 25 minutes, DVD)
DIRECTOR IN ATTENDANCE!
Sarah Jane Lapp is a Seattle-based Renaissance woman, visual artist and filmmaker, who typically takes on abstract and ethnographic subjects in her finely rendered hand-drawn experimental animations. This is her semi-factual, hand-drawn animation (India ink, gouache, and wax) reminiscent of the work of John and Faith Hubley, and scored by Mark Dresser, was made possible by interviews with eulogists galore. The film follows a eulogist-in-training and his encounter with the spaces our communal memories create between mortality and immortality.
Hastings Street by Larry Kent
(Vancouver, BC, 2007, 20 minutes, DVD)
A dramatic portrait of a vulnerable young man set in downtown Vancouver. Filmed in 1963, this monochromatic film is a flashback to a notorious street and a bygone era of Canadian cinema.
It Was A Crushing Defeat by Matt McCormick
(Portland, OR, 2007, 4 minutes, DVD)
In hi-8 night vision, this film features beautiful images of a late night at the Portland Police horse paddock beside Centennial Mills.
Image from Sarah Jane Lapp’s Chronicles of A Professional Eulogist
