north of south, west of east

<< four-channel feature length scripted film & gallery installation >>

North of South, West of East, directed by Meredith Danluck, takes a scrupulous look at the American Dream through Hollywood tropes and conventional cinema. Working with a narrative structure this four-channel 85 minute film takes the chronic existential crisis that is the American identity and turns it inside out, laying the typical components of comedy, thrill, violence, love and death (the ultimate reinvention) neatly side by side. The loaded archetypes of the Cowboy, the Rebel, the Immigrant and the Actress coupled with the romantic symbol of car culture paint a portrait of post-hope America through its most fitting medium, film.

Starring Ben Foster, Sue Galloway, Stella Schnabel, James Penfold, and Erik Quintana.

Commissioned by Ballroom Marfa and Renwick Gallery.

Using the automobile, a ubiquitous symbol of the American landscape, as an entry point into the characters lives we realize they are connected in so many ways. They are all searching for reinvention and sincerity, true love and meaning. After a series of mystical encounters, uncanny coincidences and one drug deal gone wrong, they wind up stranded together out in the harsh west Texas desert where they each face their personal demons in a bizarre ceremony with a Mexican priest. They are each tasked with a special journey that results in personal reinvention and in one case, death. Shot on location in Detroit, Michigan and Marfa, Texas, the weighty character of both places add nuanced meaning to the film.

Each of the four character's retention of the past, attention to present actions and future anticipation play out on separate screens simultaneously manifesting both mobility and stasis, the chronic existential crisis that is American identity. The desire to be entertained becomes hyper realized as the multi-screen installation creates a fully immersive non-linear cinema experience. Dialogue occurring on one screen at a time, we watch each of the four character's personal trajectories play out, uncovering hidden transitions and giving a voice to cinematic moments typically deemed extraneous.

EXHIBITIONS

Houston Cinema Arts Festival, Houston TX, November 6 – 10 – 2013
Rooftop Films 2013, New York NY, August 2, 2013
Sundance Film Festival 2013, New Frontier, January 18 – 27, 2013
Ballroom Marfa, Marfa Texas, September 30 – February 12, 2012

credits

DIRECTOR Meredith Danluck
PRODUCER Matthew Shattuck
COMMISSIONED BY Ballroom Marfa & Renwick Gallery
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Jorge Linares
CINEMATOGRAPHER Jake Burghart
EDITOR Eileen Kennedy
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Brian Orce
PRODUCTION DESIGNER James Maher
SOUND DESIGN AND MIX Chris Drozowski
COMPOSER John Fraser Carpenter
PRINCIPAL CAST Ben Foster, Sue Galloway, Stella Schnabel, James Penfold, Erik Quintana, Jimmy Raskin, Adam Bork, JP Schwartz

AUTOBODY EXHIBITION CURATOR Neville Wakefield