An Inside Look at Lit on Film
Strand’s first film festival was all about literary adaptations
From the stacks of Strand to the screen at Nitehawk, our first ever night of literary adaptations on August 16th was as successful as it was stimulating. The 10-minute time limit presented to filmmakers certainly didn’t limit the incredible amount of creativity poured into these works.
AWARD WINNERS
Best Editor: Elisabetta Diorio for Threshold
THRESHOLD
Directed by Michelle Cheripka | 2018 | 4 min
Focusing on the oft-unspoken dialogue between father and son, Michelle Cheripka’s Threshold explores the evolution of relationships, as well as the retrospection that comes with age.
Elisabetta Diorio is a writer and editor, known for Zero-two, It’s Really Odd, and Escape from Gray.
Best Actor: Christopher Kirby in Shakespeare Republic: Thomas More
SHAKESPEARE REPUBLIC: THOMAS MORE
Directed by Sally McLean | 2016 | 7 min
Meet Shakespeare Republic’s “Thomas More”, played by Christopher Kirby, as he tries to convince a group of parliamentary peers the errors of their ways. Shakespeare Republic: celebrating the brilliance of the Bard.
Christopher Kirby is an American born Australian actor whose best known role was his role as Giddean Danu in Revenge of the Sith. Having permanently relocated to Australia in late 1999, Kirby frequently portrays American characters in Australian film and television productions. He is perhaps best-known to international audiences as Mauser from The Matrix trilogy of films.
Best Director: Jonathan Guggenheim for Pilgrims
PILGRIMS
Directed by Jonathan Guggenheim | 2016 | 9 min
Set in the punk scene of Greenville, SC, 16-year-old Terry Webber struggles to navigate a new reality following a tragedy involving his girlfriend. Adapted from NY Times Bestselling author, Brad Land’s novel “Pilgrims Upon The Earth”.
Jonathan Guggenheim is an art director and actor, known for Midnight Special, Martha Marcy May Marlene, and Loving.
Best Screenplay: Temenuga Trifonova for The Art of Book Reviewing
THE ART OF BOOK REVIEWING
Directed by Temenuga Trifonova | 2017 | 10 min
A book reviewer discovers a new genre of literary criticism — ‘fictional criticism.’
Temenuga Trifonova is Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at York University, Toronto. She is the author of Contemporary Visual Culture and the Sublime, Warped Minds: Cinema and Psychopathology, European Film Theory, The Image in French Philosophy, and numerous scholarly articles. She is the recipient of several fellowships and artist residencies, including Le Studium fellowship, The Dora Maar Fellowship, and a Visiting Scholar residency at the American Academy in Rome. She is also a published novelist and a filmmaker.
Best Film: Laura Naylor and Kristen Kee for Bartleby
BARTLEBY
Directed by Laura Naylor and Kristen Kee | 2017 | 10 min
An unassuming Wall Street lawyer finds himself beset by a new employee, Bartleby, who refuses to work — in an ongoing act of passive refusal, he simply “prefers not to.” A quiet, dogged battle of wills ensues in this stop-motion reimagining of a Melville classic.
Laura Naylor fell for images, moving and not-so-mobile, while studying art at Columbia. Her directorial debut, Duck Beach — a feature doc about Mormon singles trying to tie the knot — premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival and aired on BBC 3 in the UK. Her second feature, The Fix, premiered at AFI Docs, won the jury prize for Best Documentary at SIFF, and was pegged a “poignant portrait of life in recovery” by The Hollywood Reporter.
We’re a Brooklyn based crew who toiled away in a windowless room to make this stop motion short, an adaptation of Herman Melville’s novella. In addition, the film was co-written and co-directed by two women.
ABOUT OUR FINALISTS
REMBRANDT’S ETCHING
Directed by Thomas Grascoeur | 2018 | 3 min
After losing his eyesight, a collector decides to give his daughter visiting the family home his most precious possession.
A BELIEVER
Directed by Kenta Crisà | 2017 | 1 min
A gallery, a painting, two men, or maybe only one.
RAMBLE
Directed by Andreas Ramm | 2015 | 6 min 30 sec
Based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Osterspaziergang”, Ramble takes us on a romantic journey through nature. But sometimes we crave paradise so much that we lose track of reality. The light of the sun is not always beautiful, it can also blind us.
BEARD ENVY
Directed by John Tomkins | 2018 | 5 min 30 sec
Join Dan A Beard on his very surreal journey in search to find the perfect Beard in the film adaption of poem by Robert Garnham from his book “Nice”.
REALITY HAMLET
Directed by Film Workshop for Children & Adolescents by David Valverde | 2018 | 4 min
Reality Hamlet is an experimental version of Shakespeare’s play where fiction and reality are mixed, with humor, by the students of David Valverde’s Film Workshop for Children and Adolescents.
WAIT IN VAIN
Directed by Indigo Bates | 2018 | 3 min 14 sec
A woman waits for a phone call from her lover, as she becomes increasingly manic alone in the house. Based on “A Telephone Call” by Dorothy Parker. Shot in Brooklyn with cast and crew from the UK, USA, France and Australia. Director, cinematographer Fred Foret and producer Nile Berry in attendance.
BROOKLYN LEAR
Directed by Devin Burnam | 2018 | 8 min
Shakespeare’s timeless tale of treachery, insanity, and desperation plays out once more in the red hot Williamsburg hipster housing market.
From our Friends at Film Forum
“John McEnroe at the height of his bad-boy fame. Spry and playful. An idiosyncratic sports doc about an unapologetically adversarial personality. Enhanced by immersive clips. This is fascinating stuff.”
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
