Wave Hill Offers Afternoon of Films Focusing on Wrath and Resilience
On Sunday, August 9, Wave Hill invites the public to view Wrath and Resilience, a program of five short films that portray the remarkable ways communities deal with the aftermath of natural disasters, from Louisiana to Haiti. This poignant complement to the depictions of natural disaster on view as part of Wrath—Force of Nature, in Glyndor Gallery, adds a note of realism to the expressive and allegorical work in the gallery. The films take place on Sinful Weekend, August 8 and 9, two days of activities that range from family art incorporating a drum circle to a garden walk and a cooking demo.
The afternoon of film shorts is guest-curated by Andrew Ingall, who will present five recent films he has selected by independent filmmakers who are diverse in terms of geography, genre and form. Jamie Stuart’s Eternal Storm (2012) recovers glimmers of hope from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Kombit (2014), by Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman, documents a micro-garden movement that combats post-earthquake hunger in Haiti. In the award-winning One Child (2014), Zijian Mu trains his lens on the tragic effect of the Sichuan earthquake on families following the one-child policy. A Native American Cajun community’s land disappears from under their homes due to the exploitation of the surrounding marsh, in Jason Ferris and Rebecca Marshall Ferris’s Can’t Stop the Water (2013). And in Glory at Sea (2008), an acclaimed early work by Oscar-nominated director Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), a group of mourners build a boat from the debris of New Orleans in an allegorical journey from Hades.
Following the film screening, curator Andrew Ingall leads a discussion with participating filmmakers Rebecca Marshall Ferris (Can’t Stop the Water), Jamie Stuart (Eternal Storm) and Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman (Kombit). Audience members will gain a unique understanding of the films and also have a chance to ask their own questions of the curator and filmmakers.
Sinful Weekend and Wrath—Force of Nature are part of a multi-institution presentation of the seven deadly sins organized by the Fairfield Westchester Museum Alliance, of which Wave Hill is an active member.
Wave Hill “Wrath” Film Program
Eternal Storm, 2012 (5 min.)
Jamie Stuart
Jamie Stuart filmed Eternal Storm in Astoria, Coney Island, Staten Island, and the Far Rockaways only a week after Hurricane Sandy hit New York, depicting the city’s resilience in the face of adversity. The intent was simply to create something beautiful out of something disastrous. At the time of the film’s release, Stuart said, “I don’t know if it’s right to create art out of this experience, yet. I don’t know what the time limit is. But I have created something that I hope people can appreciate. And art always helps.”
Kombit, 2014 (6 min.)
Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman
A micro-garden movement to combat post-earthquake hunger and despair in Cité Soleil, a poor neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, restores pride in the community.
One Child, 2014 (40 min.)
Zijian Mu
One Child portrays parents who lost their only children to the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, reportedly the deadliest natural disaster in China's recent history. The consequences of the long-implemented one-child policy emerge poignantly on top of the unspeakable loss. The film was shortlisted for the 87th Academy Awards® (Documentary Short Subject) and won the 2014 Student Academy Awards and the 2013 Sidney Gross Memorial Prize for Investigative Journalism.
Can’t Stop The Water, 2013 (33 min.)
Jason Ferris and Rebecca Marshall Ferris
For 170 years, a Native American Cajun community has occupied Isle de Jean Charles, a tiny island deep in the bayous of south Louisiana. They have fished, hunted, and lived off the land. Now the land that has sustained them for generations is vanishing before their eyes. Years of gas and oil exploration have ravaged the surrounding marsh, leaving the island defenseless against the ocean tides that will eventually destroy it. As Chief Albert Naquin desperately looks for a way to bring his tribe together on higher ground, those that remain on the island cling to the hope that they can stay.
Glory at Sea, 2008 (26 min.)
Benh Zeitlin
A group of mourners and a man spat from the depths of Hades build a boat from the debris of New Orleans to rescue their lost loved ones trapped beneath the sea. Winner of Best Short Film, New Orleans Film Festival 2008; winner of the Wholphin Award, SXSW Film Festival 2008. The film preceded the development and production of Zeitlin’s Academy Award-nominated film Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012).
About the Filmmakers
Andrew Ingall is an independent curator, scholar and producer. He recently organized the exhibition Videofreex: The Art of Guerilla Television at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art/SUNY New Paltz. He has served on selection committees for The Museum of Modern Art’s Documentary Fortnight and the New York Jewish Film Festival, collaboration between The Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Jewish Museum. As an Assistant Curator at the Jewish Museum, he organized exhibitions of video and digital art and directed Off the Wall: Artists at Work, a residency and open studio project. He is a co-founder, former board member, and staff member of Independent Media Arts Preservation. He has participated as a working group member of New York University’s Center for Religion and Media, as an Electronic Media and Film panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts and as a reviewer for Catapult Film Fund.
Rebecca Marshall Ferris began her career with the renowned documentary film company, Pennebaker Hegedus Films, where she served as an associate producer. In 2004, she produced the program Fox vs. Franken for the Sundance Channel’s series on the First Amendment and in 2005 produced the feature documentary Al Franken: God Spoke. Born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Ms. Ferris received a BFA from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City. Her thesis film, Jonah and the Wail, about jazz trumpeter, Jonah Jones, was awarded an Independent Feature Project Market Award and was broadcast on the Independent Film Channel. In 2011, her first feature documentary, Miller’s Tale, about actor and playwright Jason Miller, aired nationwide on PBS.
Jason Ferris grew up in rural Mississippi, the son of an artist and a cattle farmer. After studying filmmaking at Davidson College, Jason moved to New York to work for PBS. He worked on over 40 films for national broadcast and spent three seasons on the staff of the international documentary series Wide Angle. In 2004, Jason entered Union Theological Seminary (NYC), where he earned a Master of Divinity and received the Maxwell Fellowship in recognition of his short films exploring religious topics. In 2009, he added a Masters of Social Work from Tulane, where his studies focused on the intersection of psychology and religion. Throughout his graduate studies, Jason worked as a freelance camera operator, sound mixer and producer on documentaries. Jason was the executive producer and cinematographer on the nationally televised, ITVS-funded film Miller’s Tale. He is pastor of The Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, where he lives with his wife Rebecca and their sons, Sam and Lucian.
Zijian Mu is a documentary filmmaker based in Paradise Valley, Arizona. He is a Qiang minority and a native of Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, China. Mu has contributed work for The Economist, Vice and CNN. He also produced Free Advice Girl, a short film selected by the 2013 Hot Docs International Documentary Festival in Toronto, Canada. He holds an MA in news and documentary from New York University.
Jeff Reichert’s first feature film, Gerrymandering, premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival where it was named one of the best of the festival by New York Magazine. His second feature film, Remote Area Medical, had its world premiere at the 2013 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and has won numerous awards and screened at festivals across the U.S. His short, Kombit, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and he premiered his third feature, This Time Next Year, at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival. He is the co-editor of the popular online journal Reverse Shot.
Jamie Stuart is a New York-based filmmaker. He has worked exclusively online for the past decade as an innovator of digital DIY filmmaking. Clients have included Focus Features, Filmmaker Magazine and the Office of the Mayor of New York City. His viral film, Idiot with a Tripod (2010), described by the late critic Roger Ebert as “Oscar-worthy,” was named the #3 Creative Video of 2011 by TIME Magazine.
Farihah Zaman is a Brooklyn-based journalist, producer and programmer. Her diverse background in the film industry includes programming and serving on the Advisory Board of the Film South Asia documentary film festival, working as the Acquisitions Manager at Magnolia Pictures and as the Program Manager of The Flaherty, organizing their historic, contentious annual film seminar and launching a monthly screening series at Anthology Film Archives. She currently writes the film journal Reverse Shot and blogs for the Huffington Post. Her first feature film is Remote Area Medical, which was followed by the short Kombit (2014 Sundance Film Festival) and second feature This Time Next Year (2014 Tribeca Film Festival).
Benh Zeitlin is a writer, director, composer, animator and founding member of Court 13. His award-winning shorts include Egg, Origins of Electricity, I Get Wet, and Glory At Sea. His work has received support from the New York State Council on the Arts, The Jerome Foundation, Rooftop Films, and the San Francisco Film Society. His feature film Beasts of the Southern Wild won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival and the Camera d’Or at Cannes. He lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is writing his next feature film.
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Support for the Visual Arts Program is provided by Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Inc., the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, The New York Community Trust, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and by the Cathy and Stephen Weinroth Commissioning Fund for the Arts.
Wave Hill, Inc. is an independent, non-profit cultural institution governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The buildings and grounds of Wave Hill are owned by the City of New York. With the assistance of the Bronx Borough President and Bronx representatives in the City Council and State Legislature, Wave Hill’s operations are supported with public funds through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquariums Grant Program administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
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