Projections Program 7

Under the Atmosphere
Mike Stoltz, USA, 2014, 16mm, 15m
“Referring to the narrowness of the peninsula, they claimed it would not be able to withstand such a great explosion and would be blown to pieces the moment the cannon was fired. ‘Then let it be blown to pieces,’ the Floridians replied.”
“Shot on the Central Florida Space Coast, site of NASA’s launchpads. Arcane text, an out-of-tune rock band, active landscape, and the surface of the image work toward a future-past shot reverse shot.” —Mike Stoltz

The Figures Carved into the Knife by the Sap of the Banana Trees
Joana Pimenta, USA/Portugal, 2014, DCP, 16m
“The rapid turning of a light draws a circle. In the space bound by its line unravels an archive of postcards sent between the island of Madeira and the former Portuguese colony of Mozambique. The Figures Carved into the Knife by the Sap of the Banana Trees circulates between a fictional colonial memory and science fiction.” —Joana Pimenta

Shwebonta
Meredith Lackey, USA, 2014, DCP, 13m
“The capital of Burma was moved from Yangon to Naypyidaw on November 6, 2005 at the astrologically auspicious hour of 6:37 a.m. Constructed atop paddy fields by the former military junta, Naypyidaw was the host of the Southeast Asian Games in 2014—a first in the history of the country. This film was shot in Northern Burma, and the old and new capital cities.” —Meredith Lackey

Atlantis
Ben Russell, Malta/USA, 2014, DCP, 24m
“We Utopians are happy / This will last forever”
“Loosely framed by Plato’s invocation of the lost continent of Atlantis in 360 B.C. and its resurrection via a 1970s science-fiction pulp novel, Ben Russell presents a documentary portrait of Utopia—that relative paradise, an island called Nowhere which has never/forever existed beneath our feet. Herein is folk song and pagan rite, reflected temple and Templar Knight, the lonely body of Man disappearing into the glimmering sea. Even with our mouths full of sea water, we persist—happy and content.” —Ben Russell