This article was originally published in print in Fireflies Issue #4: Pedro Costa / Ben Rivers (purchase here), and has been posted here with the generosity of the magazine's editors.Origin of the SpeciesAs the titles of This Is My Land (2006) appear on the black screen, we hear Jake Williams’ voice: a song hum-mumbled that reminds me of my father ironing. I like him instantly. When we eventually see Williams, two leaves obscure his forehead and mouth as if to say, this is as close as you’re going to get, or maybe, aren’t these leaves nice, shouldn’t we all spend more time in the woods, playing with leaves? He holds the pose as though instructed. After a few minutes, we get Williams’ first words as he stands in front of his house in the forest: “If you want to make a hedge but you’re not in a big hurry,...
- 11/8/2016
- MUBI
"To Save and Project: The 13th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation" runs from November 4-25, 2015 and features 74 newly restored masterworks and rediscovers including films by Chantal Ackerman, Dario Argento, Samuel Fuller, Orson Welles and many more. Read More: 10 Rare Gems MoMA Just Saved from Obscurity Special guests for the series include Oja Kodar, Stefan Droessler, Guy Maddin, Chris Langdon, Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako ("Timbuktu") and noted film historians John Canemaker, Tom Gunning and Eddie Muller. Maddin will introduce two films on the silent program including “Pan,” the 1922 film by Harald Schwenzen based on the novel by Knut Hamsun; and “Monsieur Don’t Care,” a 1924 comedy short starring Stan Laurel in his pre-Oliver Hardy days. Indiewire recently spoke to Maddin over the phone about why these two films matter to him and about the state of film preservation. Why these two films in particular? Although, I...
- 11/13/2015
- by Paula Bernstein
- Indiewire
Ben Rivers' film is about a man who lives in a remote Scottish house. We follow his daily life – but don't know why. Welcome to 'slow cinema'
This could be the least glamorous wrap party in the history of cinema. It is 2am, and we're sitting around a dying fire, sipping tea and whisky in the middle of a pine forest in Aberdeenshire, in the junk-strewn courtyard of an old farmhouse. The house belongs to Jake Williams, wiry, bright-eyed and with an impressive white beard. He's the movie's star; or, rather, he's the only person in it. Opposite him sit the crew: director Ben Rivers and sound recordist Chu-li Shewring. That's it. They have just finished shooting the final scene of Rivers' first feature: a close-up of Williams staring into the fire as it slowly dies. They've shot it twice tonight, adding bits of car tyre (it gives off a nice,...
This could be the least glamorous wrap party in the history of cinema. It is 2am, and we're sitting around a dying fire, sipping tea and whisky in the middle of a pine forest in Aberdeenshire, in the junk-strewn courtyard of an old farmhouse. The house belongs to Jake Williams, wiry, bright-eyed and with an impressive white beard. He's the movie's star; or, rather, he's the only person in it. Opposite him sit the crew: director Ben Rivers and sound recordist Chu-li Shewring. That's it. They have just finished shooting the final scene of Rivers' first feature: a close-up of Williams staring into the fire as it slowly dies. They've shot it twice tonight, adding bits of car tyre (it gives off a nice,...
- 4/26/2012
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
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