A FILM ABOUT VIOLENCE
(Ethan Knecht | 1:05 | Drama)

By Rooftop Films on 07/30/2008

Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Home Movies, Watch Short Films

If you like this film, see similar ones this Saturday, August 2, at Rooftop's unique and wonderful "Home Movies" show!



The simple and powerful example of the ways the film frame shapes (and distorts) our understanding.

Like many great short films, this one starts by making you laugh. A Film About Violence presents us with the awkward situation of the filmmaker, on camera, undergoing a series of slaps to the face while he spills his thoughts on what exactly violence is. It's all about the context--how we would feel if there was a context in this situation, if there was more to the frame. If we knew the identity of the slapper or the reasons behind it, it would most likely change how we react to the action of violence. Filmmaker Ethan Knecht undergoes pain for the sake of art, and changes our reactions to the scene from laughter to self-reflection, all in just over one minute.

A Film About Violence, made in 2006, was featured in the Takoma Park Film Festival in 2007, and will be featured as part of Rooftop's Home Movies show this weekend on August 2. This show features fun, fascinating, personal, profound, and ultimately unfiltered depictions of the filmmakers in their own spheres, preserved (and also distorted) by the medium of motion pictures and how we perceive them--how we reflect on what we are shown. The films in this program are consciously mining the filmmakers' personal lives, using the immediacy of the footage to settle their own feelings, by turns comic and cartoonish, romantic and violent.

We had a few questions for filmmaker Ethan Knecht about his short film--here is what he had to say:

RF: Tell us about your film?

EK: My film is a short performance piece on the nature and reality of violence. Violence is both an attractive and unattractive force in contemporary America. On the one hand, violence, as it has for centuries, is a significant and profitable form of entertainment. On the other hand, it has also become a major factor in The War On Terror and of American foreign policy in general. This film explores this duality as well as question the context of violence in film and media.

RF: What was your inspiration?

EK: I'm not positive what my inspiration for this was. This was created in my first year of not having a TV and I think that stepping away from that experience gave me a new perspective on the American media...

RF: How did you withstand all those slaps to the face?

EK: Patience and humor. We only had to do about five takes.

RF: Is there anything you'd like to share about the film that might not be immediately apparent (your conception of the film, back-story, production methods, etc.)? Any interesting stories about the production?

EK: I was in the middle of a longer project and I was borrowing this great camera from my friend. I had to give it back to him the next day and I wanted to get all the use I could out of it. I was in the library studying and the idea for this project, for lack of a better term, hit me. I wrote the outline in 5 min. and then I ran home and filmed it in 10. In total it took about 30min to make and $0 which, in a world of huge budget Hollywood films, is an important thing to still be able to do. Keeping a straight face was exceedingly difficult, also my roommates heard things and weren't sure what was going on in my room.

RF: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to? What is your current/next project?

EK: I currently work for the New York Public Library in the Bronx as an Information Assistant. I'm making a film with the Library right now. In the Bronx there is obviously a huge population of immigrants. For immigrant week this year I am in the process of making a film in which I interview immigrants at the library and have them talk about their experience in the third person as a "She". In this way, all of their stories mesh into this single narrative. It has been a really great experiment so far.

RF: If you've been to a Rooftop show, how was the experience?

EK: I've been going to Rooftop for three years now. The first show I went to was on a pier in Tribeca, I didn't know that it was possible to watch films in such a beautiful setting. I have watched and been to the IFC center many times as well. It is an amazing honor to be a part of the show not just the audience.

Tags: A Film About Violence, context, Ethan Knecht, filmmakers, Home movies, Slap, Violence