Saturday, February 17th
12:50 — 3:00pm
Naval Heritage Center
$11 IN ADVANCE HERE OR AT THE DOOR
Screens as part of Really Real Documentary Shorts
Little Fiel
Directed by Irina Patkanian
USA / 2018 / 16 minutes / US Premiere
Little Fiel is a short documentary with stop motion animation about unending wars and ubiquitous guns. It is loosely based on the life story of Mozambican artist Fiel dos Santos – a man who is the only one in his family to never have shot a gun and who makes art of decommissioned guns donated by the public in exchange for food and tools. Fiel dos Santos grew up during the 16 year old civil war – another proxy war equipped and sustained by conflicting foreign powers. Fiel created eight figures representing his father, mother, five brothers and sister from decommissioned AK47s and M16s. Three New York artists turned them into puppets and animated. “Little Fiel” tells a universal story of peaceful people who have been coerced, conscripted and enticed into killing each other. It is collective act of resistance and hope.
Director Bio:
Irina Patkanian is an award winning filmmaker, a Fulbright scholar, a MacDowell and Obermann fellow, a professor of film and media production at Television and Radio department of Brooklyn College of City University of New York, and the president of “In Parentheses,” a NYC based nonprofit Film, Theater & Media Arts Company. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Irina Patkanian came to the U.S. in 1991 after graduating from the University of St. Petersburg with a BA in Philology of Germanic Languages (English Literature & Linguistics). After receiving an MA degree in Linguistics from the University of Iowa, she was awarded an American Association of University Women International Fellowship to pursue the MFA degree in Film Production. She studied film with Dudley Andrew and Leighton Pierce. In 1999 she moved to New York City with her son Gleb. Irina Patkanian makes hybrid and creative documentary mixing fiction and non fiction; live action and stop motion animation, film and theater. Her films played and won awards in film festivals and art venues worldwide (Best Documentary at Peace on Earth Film Festival, Chicago; Best Fiction Short at Sand Diego Women Film Festival and UFVA). Irina is a recipient of grants from New York State Council of the Arts, Tow, Blaustein, Troy and Jerome Foundations. She is currently working on a documentary opera “Iphigenia in Lesvos: Story of a Refugee” written by Lisa Schlesinger, mise-en-secne directed by Marion Schoevaert; music by Kinan Azmeh.
