Synopsis
A cross generational binding of three filmmakers seeking alternative possibilities to power structures they’re inherently part of.
The film grew out of abandoned film projects of Maya Deren and Barbara Hammer. Shot at the furthest point of a motorcycle trip Hammer took to Guatemala in 1975, and passed through with Deren’s reflections of failure, encounter and initiation in 1950s Haiti.
A vever is a symbolic drawing used in Haitian Voodoo to invoke a Loa, or god.
Calling something ‘political’ and thinking of it as separate is just an excuse for not thinking about it at all.
Vicki Aspinall, The Raincoats
CREDITS
Camera, Voice: Barbara Hammer
Texts, Field Recording: Maya Deren
Director, Edit, Sound Design: Deborah Stratman
Vever Drawings: Teiji Ito
Music: Katherina Bornefeld, George Hadow, Teiji Ito
European Premiere: Berlinale, 2019 US Premiere: T/F Festival & Cosmic Rays, 2019
AWARDS
Best International Short Film: Hongseoung International Short Film Festival, South Korea
Honorable Mention: Punto de Vista Int’l Documentary Film Festival, Pamplona, Spain
REVIEWS
"interrogate[s] the distinction between integrity and mastery — presenting the world versus questioning it". - Ela Bittencourt, Hyperallergic, September 2019
"How can we identify the beauty that comes from rejecting the strictures of masculine ways-of-being in the world without mummifying it...". - Adina Glickstein, Another Gaze, February 2019
"convey[s] the shared aspirations of each woman to create work with integrity while upholding personal accountability as filmmakers.". - Ruth Hodgins, Walker Art Center Magazine, November 2018
