Reading the Water: Lectures on Home Video Ecology from the Gulf of ME

By Niklas Sven Vollmer in collaboration with Douglas and Tannus Vollmer Total Running Time: 40 minutes Shooting Format: HDCAM (Sony CineAlta camera) Release Date: 2007 SYNOPSIS: Reading the Water (40 minutes) is a high-definition experimental ‘home video’ and personal-poetic essay that mobilizes the coast of Maine—the sandbox of the Vollmer’s youth and his marine biologist and naturalist professor-photographer father’s area of expertise—as a metaphor for exploring the depths of masculine relationships and family ecosystem sustainability across three generations. The videotape’s title employs the idea of “reading” the surface of water—akin to unpacking the meaning of a photograph—as a means to navigate what is below; it “reads” the water both in content and form and utilizes playfully reflexive editing techniques and wry cinematic disruptions to unveil the complex and fragile dynamics of the family ecosystem vis-à-vis a behind-the-scene reveal of the videotape’s construction. Vollmer also harnesses on-screen text to incorporate his (then) 3-year-old son’s well-expressed need for emotional presence from his biological ‘fathers’—a strategy that also gives voice to the maker’s own buried, yet still present, need for his own dad. The work is also a love letter to his son and father. SELECTED SCREENINGS / AWARDS: 2010 American Documentary Showcase – featured filmmaker 2008 Taipei Film Festival 2007 Planet in Focus International Environmental Film & Video Festival 2007 Athens International Film and Video Festival 2007 Big Sky Documentary Festival 2007 Maine International Film Festival 2007 Trenton Film Festival 2007 Milwaukee Underground Film Festival 2007 Iowa City Experimental Film Festival (ICE) 2007 Indie Grits Film Festival - Audience Award 2007 Southern Fried Film Festival – 1st Place Documentary 2007 Experiments in Cinema v.2 2007 University Film and Video Association (UFVA) National Conference – Finalist (Runner up) BIO: Niklas Vollmer is an inter...

Channel: Vimeo Video Length: 39m 52s Date Found: Tue, Aug 17 2010 11:48 PM Category: Home Video Date Produced: Thu, Jun 03 2010 1:59 AM View Count: 0