May. 28, 2021

PROXY [virtual] SPRING SERIES, VOLUME FIVE

This fifth and final volume of the PROXY [virtual] Spring Series marks a momentous occasion: our very first in-person screening since November of 2019! Happening tonight at the PROXY walk-in theater, PROXY Spring Series: Select Shorts features five short films across both narrative and documentary forms. To get the celebration going, we are departing from our usual virtual format and instead taking the opportunity to shine a light on tonight’s selected films and the directors who made them. We are overjoyed to safely welcome you all back to watch movies outside together again. See you tonight at PROXY!

WATCH

SNOWY

Directed by Kaitlyn Schawlje and Alexander Lewis

Snowy is a 25-year old box turtle who has lived most of his life in a glass terrarium in a Pennsylvanian basement. Largely ignored by his family, he still has one regular visitor, the family’s father who cleans Snowy’s largely empty enclosure. SNOWY, the film, tries to answer the impossible question – is this turtle happy? You can read a bit more about the relationship between the filmmakers and Snowy here, and an in-depth interview on the production process with co-director Kaitlyn Schwalje here.

 

THE AFFECTED

Directed by Rikke Gregerson

THE AFFECTED is a Norwegian short film in which an activist takes a publicly broadcasted stand on a flight to Istanbul, pushing the captain into making a decision with political ramifications. It is a hilarious and slightly caustic look at the downsides of the current saturation of social justice work in our daily lives, and the individuals caught up in corporate statements on hot button issues. Director Rikke Gregerson and Producer Stine Blichfeldt spoke with Rianne Pictures about their careers in the film industry and the production process of the Affected.

 

FOREVER

Directed by Mitch McGlocklin

After a life insurance company rejects his application, a man ruminates on what it means to be judged and catalogued by a corporation’s AI systems. FOREVER was filmed using a LIDAR system originally designed to allow self-driving cars to create accurate renditions of the humans they are trying to avoid. The film is an ingenious interpretation of what eternity can mean for you and me. Director Mitch McGlocklin sat down with VoyageLA to talk about his life as an artist and how film can be an extension of understanding to those who feel distant and forgotten.

 

THIS IS THE WAY WE RISE

Directed by Ciara Lacy

THIS IS THE WAY WE RISE is the story of Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, a Kanaka Maoli wahine poet, scholar and activist working towards justice for Hawaii’s indigenous population. Centered around the recent protests to stop the construction of a telescope atop the sacred Mauna Kea mountain on Hawaii’s big island, the film explores Osorio’s life and work up to that point, and the inspiration they receive from the mountain’s defense. The short is directed by Native Hawaiian filmmaker Ciara Lacy, who spoke with the Sundance Institute last year about the relationship between filmmaking and catharsis.

 

YORUGA

Directed by Federico Torrado Tobón

YORUGA focuses on a conversation between a man and one of the last animals left on earth. Devastatingly mundane, the one-sided conversation lasts for only a couple of minutes and hints at a longstanding relationship between the man and Yoruga, the turtle. Director Federico Torrado Tobón is an industry veteran with years of experience writing, directing, and producing feature length and short films. In this 2018 interview, he speaks about his filmmaking process as it relates to an earlier short THE PLAGUE.

 

LISTEN

We are so ready for an opening, a loosening, a celebration.  This is our first playlist for a live film-viewing audience in over eighteen months: a couple of hours of joyful sounds to celebrate the threshold that we luckily find ourselves at.  We celebrate knowing that there is still so much more to do to build a fair and equitable world, a world filled with joyful acts and loving kindness.  -dB

Listen on Spotify and Apple Music

 

JOIN

We hope to see you tonight at PROXY. To help us comply with current health safety mandates, advance registration is required. Sign-up and learn more here!

PROXY Spring Series: Select Shorts
Friday, May 28, 2021
PROXY Walk-in Theater
432 Octavia Street, San Francisco
“Doors” at 7:30 pm
Screening begins at 8:45 pm