ELEMENTAL is a direct response to specificity and political nature of most of the films that are being made today.

While it is an attempt to strip an image of any political connotation and creating a universal sensory experience, it is also a formal exercise in the most unique aspect of film, which separates it from all other arts, that is Editing.

It was heavily drawn from Germaine Dulac’s idea of ‘Cinema as a composed symphony of images’, instead of an extension of Theater, Literature or Painting.

The initial idea of the film was quite different, but everything changed on the Editing table, perhaps quite prominently after a watch of Bruce Baillie’s Castro Street (1966).

Elemental was developed for a class (titled Cinematic Aesthetics at The New School) and has an accompanying short essay (Anatomy of an Image: Formal Vs Political) on my blog.

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The film is currently playing at Film Forum as this month's Lobby Movie.

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First version: https://vimeo.com/334656162

Silent version: https://vimeo.com/388868473