Orbit
Nov 09, 2011
(Various, USA, 2011, HD, 80min)
Co-Presented by Third Eye Cinema
On this day in 1967, Apollo 4 was launched as the first unmanned test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, a shuttle that would later take the first men to the moon. With our shuttle program faltering, we decided to honor this day in history with a special program curated and produced by Mike Plante (Cinemad) and Mark Elijah Rosenberg (Rooftop Films). The duo commissioned acclaimed filmmakers to each make a film about a planet, dealing with the science of outer space through creative and emotional storytelling and visual poetry. Some or all of the original source material comes from NASA footage, reinterpreted by each filmmaker to make a portrait of the respective planet so that the avant-garde of art may inspire the avant-garde of science. Participating filmmakers are Brent Hoff, Ben Coonley, Jessica Oreck, Mike Plante, Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, Mark Elijah Rosenberg, Deborah Stratman, Kelly Sears, Jacqueline Goss and Michael Gitlin, Bill Brown, Poseidan, and Travis Wilkerson.
THE FILMS
Look at the Sun
(Brent Hoff, San Francisco, CA, 5 min)
For thousands of years, humanity has watched the sun with feelings of fear and awe, believing, without knowing why, that our lives depend on its mysterious undulations. The sun has changed but our sense of wonder has not. Now more than ever, we must look at the sun.
Mercury
(Ben Coonley, Brooklyn, NY, 6 min)
A mercurial cine-opera set to visuals gathered by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. Lyrics composed in collaboration with the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN).
Venus
(Jessica Oreck, New York, NY, 5 min)
Jessica explores the inner-workings of our sister planet. Examining the atmospheric composition of Venus, this piece, narrated by Jackie Reynal, is a reminder of what could happen on Earth.
Copernicus Resurrected [Earth]
(Mike Plante, Los Angeles, CA, 5 min)
A short note about Earth and a gentleman of our times.
I Seen the Moon
(Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, Brooklyn, NY, 4 min)
Signs of life for this man may very well exist on the Moon.
No Message Received [Mars]
(Mark Elijah Rosenberg, Brooklyn, NY, 9 min)
This is a story about a little robot born on Mars and the introverted scientist who created it—a meta-fictional re-telling of NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission, discovering a story about outcast people and forgotten technology, about wondrous things struggling for attention in busy worlds.
…These Blazeing Starrs! [Comets]
(Deborah Stratman, Chicago, IL, 14 min)
Since we began recording the movements of the comets they have augured catastrophe, messiahs, upheaval and end times. This is a little film about these meteoric ice-cored fireballs and their historic ties to divination.
“These Blazeing Starrs! Threaten the World with Famine, Plague, & Warrs…” Du Bartas, De cometis (1665)
Jupiter Elicius
(Kelly Sears, Houston, TX, 4 min)
A haunted meteorologist dreams of storms that are both closer and further away than he thought. His unshakable bravado is undone through fast winds and high-pressure systems, as well as a sense of duty.
Scan Platform Problems (Close To You) [Saturn]
(Jacqueline Goss and Michael Gitlin, Tivoli, NY)
The most beautiful planet deconstructed, played with, put back together again.
Uranus
(Bill Brown, Lubbock, TX, 8 min)
The year is 2003. A spaceman takes a trip to Uranus. He is fleeing from the Earth in the month before a big, rich country invades a little country of little consequence for mysterious reasons.
Neptune Calling!
(Poseidan, Austin, TX)
Neptune, in a true display of his personality, prank calls the other planets.
Pluto Declaration
(Travis Wilkerson, Denver, CO, 5 min)
Restore the classical definition of planet!