Single Channel Video. 10 min, 30 sec. 2021.
A visual diary of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. After receiving news that his grandfather has had a stroke, a filmmaker struggles with his privilege, anxieties, and inability to leave the home.
The script was informed by verite moments captured over several months, and filming served as a kind of “ritual” to process my interior life. With so many conflicting thoughts and emotions on display, I sought to memorialize this period with a piece that fixed itself in time and place. Strategies such as narration supplied only by text, avoidance of eyelines, and an objective, static camera were done to create the illusion of objectivity despite my subjective experience. A “Works Cited” at the end of the film documents the texts which inspired the ritual.
Screenings
World Premiere – Sphere World Cinema Carnival – Online – Kolkata, India – May 18-23rd, 2021
Official Selection – Experimental Film Fest 2021 – New Bern, NC – September 18th, 2021
Finalist – BitterSweet Invitational Story Festival – Washington, D.C. – November 12th, 2022
Mark J. Burchick 