2006)
IDFA Competition for Student Documentary
Sleepers’ Beat Anastasia Kirillova
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
UK, 2014 DCP, color, 16 min Director: Anastasia Kirillova Cinematography: Jacob Robinson Editing: Anastasia Kirillova Sound: Steven Bond Music: Ben Lukas Boysen Production: Anastasia Kirillova Screening Copy: Anastasia Kirillova Website: www.bonnieparker.tv/sleepers-beat
Anastasia Kirillova:
Emulsion (fiction, 2002) 50 Years and a Few Pusskittens Wiser (2007) Stalking Holidays (2007) Home for Lost Holidays (fiction, 2008) Oi Oi Saveloy (2008) Fireflies (fiction, 2011) I Am Home: Thoughts of a Nomad (2012)
www.bonnieparker.tv
For weeks they are away from home leading a subservient life, from early morning until late in the evening. Yet living and working on the Trans-Siberian Railway is something the train staff wouldn’t and couldn’t live without. They feel more at home on the train now than in their own homes. Sleeper’s Beat is a hymn to the train, which they regard as a living being, and to the cars, which all seem to have their own spirit – one you love right away, the other you learn to love after some time. The camera captures their passion for the train with visual lyricism: it caresses the curtains, shows the snowy Russian landscapes and the rails gleaming in the sunlight. The rattle and rocking of the train create a meditative rhythm, together with soft piano music that provides a daydreamy, nostalgic feel. Director Anastasia Kirillova not only makes documentary and fiction shorts, but also video installations and short videos. This poetic short follows Kirillova’s earlier work, whose recurring themes include life in exile or as an immigrant, and feeling at home versus being on the road.
The Solitude of Memory ¿Por qué el recuerdo? Juan Pablo González
Mexico, USA, 2014 DCP, color, 20 min Director: Juan Pablo González Cinematography: Juan Pablo González, Adrian S. Bara, Jim Hickcox Editing: Juan Pablo González Sound: Rui Silva Music: Zindu Cano, Kevin Garcia Production: Juan Pablo González for Sin Sitio Producciones Co-Production: University of Texas at Austin Executive Production: Jim Hickcox & Ana Isabel Ferndandez for University of Texas at Austin Screening Copy: Sin Sitio Producciones
Juan Pablo González:
A Game of Chess (fiction, 2011) Hinojosa (2013)
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Just what does José remember of the last time he saw his son Fernando alive? Well, there was some fuss about a horse and a saddle belonging to the boss. José, a hard-working Mexican, dredges up facts and feelings of that ill-fated evening. He is narrating from behind the wheel of his truck, in voice-over as the camera floats over an abandoned racetrack. We watch him light a fire and rest after the work is done. Time and again, it’s the same tragic story with the same ending – the self-chosen death of his beloved son. But every time he recites the story, he does so a bit differently, because memories manifest themselves in varying sequences and importance. Sometimes the discussion he had with Fernando about the saddle is important, while other times it’s the fact that he stayed away from home. In three parts, Juan Pablo González, who grew up in the same rural Mexican village as the late Fernando, offers a poetically introspective portrait of mourning and remembrance. Accompanying José’s sad story are beautiful shots of the vast, Mexican hinterland, where nature, herds of horses, lime trees and the sound of crickets call the shots in an almost meditative way. How does a grieving father experience the dragging on of the years without his son beside him?
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