Who would have known that the paintings of Andrew Wyeth would make such a good catalyst for the creativity of local filmmakers? The Seattle Museum of Art knew! In honor of their comprehensive retrospective that opened last month celebrating the works of Wyeth, SAM sponsored a "film sprint" inviting local filmmakers to make a short film inspired by one of his paintings.
The three films, selected by an audience, a curator, and a round of judges, will make you laugh, may make you cry, and will definitely bring a fresh perspective to the work and life of this popular realist painter, whose melancholy landscapes and tender portraits have became American classics.
And, apparently there used to be a thing on Slog called Short Film Fridays? So, in the spirit of that, here they are:
Audience Pick: Weird Dog Productions, New Tomorrow
From some of the hilarious geniuses behind The Future Is Zero game show, New Tomorrow is a funeral home which, has some, um, unusual burial options.
Judges’ Pick: Team Wyethian, This Film Instead
One filmmaking team has a disturbing Stand by Me moment while scouting locations in the countryside, and decides to shift gears on the film they had planned to make. A true story.
(The judges were Patti Junker, SAM’s Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art; and local filmmakers and artists Clyde Petersen and Wynter Rhys.)
Curator’s Pick: Team Egg Tempera, Helga
Andrew Wyeth made over 200 portraits of nurse and muse, Helga Testorf, in a farmhouse, for 15 years, in secret. This short film tells Helga’s side of this fascinating, poignant story.
(Chosen by Patti Junker.)
