Show and Tell 2018: Anna Kipervaser
Anna Kipervaser
Filmmaker
1. What’s your idea of perfect happiness?:
That is hard. And is always in flux, transforming, heightening.
2. What drives you to make films?:
I have no choice, really. It’s a drive and I don’t question it. It’s great!!!
3. Where in the world would you most like to be right now?:
I am exactly where I need to be. And am excited to go to the Sargasso Sea in a couple of weeks to explore one of the most mystical places on earth through a film collaboration!!
4. When inspiration is waning, and you feel creatively sapped, what do you do to stay motivated?:
I read, I fix objects (projectors, splicers, viewers, etc) or take them apart (same objects). The creation and destruction and discovery of the guts of things always helps. Sometimes I also just force myself to edit or to shoot, or to help a friend with a project. All of these are ways to cope, to also switch gears, to push the mind and heart into the realm they need to go through the interaction and integration of hands and eyes. It always works, but never in the same way, and that is also exciting.
5. What films are the most inspiring or influential to you at the moment, and why?:
Brian Virostek’s SUMMER ECHO. There’s much to say about why, the why inside the film, and the why outside the film, but I’ll say that this movie is pure magic, it connects things in ways that are unexpected, that are pure and land pure, the resonances happen across time and then expand and collapse time.
Your top 3 favourite music tracks?:
I can’t. I always have a hard time picking favorites, because these things change and depend on the moment, the mood, everything. My tastes are broad and ever expanding. And. At the moment, I’m seeing and hearing lots of new music and it’s really exciting!
7. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?:
Scariest and most heart-opening: told someone how important they are to me. And hiking up Mount Sinai – every time!
8. What’s your greatest extravagance?:
Oh man, I have this addiction to eBay… I don’t really know what to say (ha!), to give you an idea, I own 7 Bolexes, and 5 Kodak Pageant projectors, and I don’t want to say much more, but I don’t really actually think it’s an extravagance, but recognize it is a little bit of an addiction, though it may actually be just fine!!! I also buy lottery tickets and vitaminwater sometimes (simultaneously, of course)
9. What turns you on – creatively, spiritually or emotionally?:
Being present, being inspired, being moved, being creative, being connected, ideas turn me on, squirrels excite me, walks in the woods, staring at the ocean, seeing frames of film take shape, pressing buttons on the JK optical printer, trying new things, jumping rocks, nature opening up, opening up my heart.
A final word?
P.S. Do you have any favourites or highlights from this year’s Alchemy programme that you’d love to give a shoutout to here?
It’s really exciting to be in the same block as Scott Fitzpatrick, it’s maybe the fourth (or more) time this year we’ve been programmed in the same block (and not always the same films), and I like patterns! While I’ve known and loved Scott’s work for some time, this magic is saying we will finally meet in person soon!!! I’m also really excited to see Dawn George’s SEE WEEDS at Alchemy, I saw it for the first time and met Dawn (who is most lovely!!!) at Antimatter last year where I fell in love with her magical film – I have very warm memories from Antimatter of films and people and the vibe; it’s so great to see SEE WEEDS here!!! I wish I could be at Alchemy this year to see it again, to see all of the great work, work that I know and work I am yet to become acquainted with, to be with old friends and to meet filmmakers I don’t yet know.
