IN CINEMA
NEW WORKS by G. ANTHONY SVATEK
Wednesday, December 11th at 7PM
Tickets: FREE
Maysles Documentary Center presents an evening of new, and forthcoming, work by NYC-based filmmaker and MDC fiscal sponsee G. Anthony Svatek. These works – two short experimental essay films and an excerpt of his forthcoming debut feature doc – explore humanity’s genuine and often absurd attempts to provide care, attention, and protection to the natural world, amidst the growing existential and material crises brought upon by ourselves.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with G. Anthony Svatek, moderated by Kazembe Balagun.
Program:
• TESTUDO HERMANNI (2023, 7 min.) - 7 min
• SOME THOUGHTS ON THE COMMON TOAD (2023, 11 min.)
• HUMBOLDT USA, teaser (2 min)
• HUMBOLDT USA, work-in-progress excerpt (16 min)
TESTUDO HERMANNI is a portrait of the filmmaker’s mother, his tortoise, and mild winters – an intimately amusing story of familial relationships rising to the occasion of unpredictable climate change, in which providing mindful care, above all, plays a crucial role. The film screened at Diagonale, DOXA, Athens International Film + Video Fest, Science New Wave and elsewhere.
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE COMMON TOAD is a cine-collage manifesto in defense of beauty amidst political cynicism and environmental alienation, with text by George Orwell, and narrated by Tilda Swinton. It has screened at DOXA, Big Sky, Mimesis Documentary Film Festival, Ji.hlava, Archivio Aperto and elsewhere; this will be its NYC premiere.
HUMBOLDT USA is a feature-length documentary exploring the environmental legacy of 19th century German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. From helicoptered bighorn sheep in the Nevadan desert, to air monitoring of highway pollution in Buffalo, NY, to 3D-mapped redwood forests in California, the film follows everyday people reckoning with their disappearing environments. Humboldt USA, produced by Elijah Stevens, co-edited by Kaija Siirala, and shot by Sean Hanley is currently in post-production, with a planned premiere in 2025.
G. Anthony Svatek grew up at the foot of the Austrian Alps, where he became deeply awed by the living world. Moving to New York City turned his passion into an inquiry about the way our understanding of nature is informed by our increasingly technological and urban lives. Amongst others, his work has been shown at the New York Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and DOCNYC, and has been published by Harper’s Magazine. He’s created educational content for BBC, NY State Parks, several museums and is the recipient of the 2018 SFFILM Golden Gate Best New Vision Award. His work has been supported by NYSCA and the Austrian Cultural Forum NY. Anthony currently serves on the Advisory Council at UnionDocs in Brooklyn and formerly served on the board of the Film-Makers’ Cooperative / New American Cinema Group. Anthony staffs seasonally at the American Museum of Natural History, The Climate Museum, and the Flaherty International Film Seminar.
