Out of Competition

SUPER-8 MOM



Country of production: USA
Year: 2002
Language: English
Mins: 5

Director: David Ellsworth
Cinematography: Mary Jane Ellsworth
Editing: David Ellsworth
Sound: David Ellsworth
Producer: David Ellsworth
Source: David Ellsworth
Box 8
Hills, IA 52235
USA
Phone: +1 319 351 9207
dellswor@soli.inav.net

From a statement by the filmmaker:
In contrast to most American families during the late 1960's and 70's, my mother, not my father, shot all our family's home movies. Many films incorporating home movie footage do so to provide historical 'evidence' for the filmmaker, or to evoke a feeling for a specific period of personal history. While these elements are certainly present in "Super-8 Mom", my intent was to focus on her work as a personal aesthetic document (both hers and mine) that transcends the sentimentality often present in works that use home movies. I wanted to make a piece that looks at her filmmaking on several different levels simultaneously.

On a personal level, the film is a conversation/exploration/meditation on how her filmmaking has influenced my own work. I also wanted to investigate the creative process and ask questions about what determines when unedited film footage becomes a 'film'. How does the personal vision of someone with a movie camera become transformed in the process of becoming a 'finished work'? What is the relationship between an audience and an artist? What happens when home movies become part of a larger discussion, and my work as a filmmaker becomes the actual images from my own past?

David Ellsworth worked in video post-production at Broadway Video in New York, NY for 10 years. Since then, he has made several award winning short films. Ellsworth is currently finishing up his thesis film in the graduate program in Film and Video Production at the University of Iowa.

filmography AS DIRECTOR
SUPER-8 MOM (2002)
HUSKS (2002)
HAZLO POR CUBA (2001)
UNDIVIDED ATTENTION (2000)
MONKEY DOLL (1998)
DEAR GRANDMA & GRANDPA (1998)
FOUR DAY INTERVAL (1998)
ICE (1996)

Friday 09-Apr-2004 9:00 PM Gallery Theatre
Screening with SAFETY TIPS FOR KIDS, CASTING