23 Minutes
Experimental Documentary
by Melanie West and Geoff Marslett
8 Movements (2003)
Synopsis
Eight Movmeents is a twenty-three minute experimental documentary both in form and content shot entirely on Super 8 film over five years by Melanie West and Geoff Marslett. Together they edited the footage and released it as 8 Movements in January of 2003. The film features family, friends, artists and interesting folks, as well as atmospheric (and driving) music by Joe West and Howe Gelb.
Rather than presenting a person or an event, it focuses on an idea. Movement is the force within choices, changes, and the creative spark of self. Flickering Super 8 film and engaging musical accompaniments enhance the journeys from sub-atomic chemical reactions to personal addiction; from female artistic expression to railroad expansion into a West filled with the smoke of human error. Like a song, each piece is unique but linked to the bittersweet and hopeful reality of movement.
Screenings
Film Fest New Haven, Sunday September 25, 2005 in New Haven, CT.
Austin Music Network during movie night on August 3, 6, 10 and 13, 2003
Rural Route Film Fest in New York City on July 22rd, 2003
Ladyfest Texas in Austin Texas on May 22-25th 2003
FLICKER #13 in Austin, Texas on March 19th, 2003
During the five years in which Eight movements was being made portions of the film screened at:
Cinemaker Co-Op Super8 festival entitled Fast, Cheap, and Out of Focus in August of 1998
Cinemaker Co-Op in December of 1998 as part of Cold Turkey
CinemaTexas in 1999
Cinemaker Co-Op’s documentary festival in August 2000
Featured on Cinemaker Co-Op’s 2000 best of tape (Splice of Life)
Cinema Texas Film festival in 2000
Exploding Cinema presents “All My Excesses Live In Texas” in London, England in November 2001
