Pairing the gestures of modern, interpretive dance to the ecstatically, high-energy pop song, “In the NA” depicts a scientific experiment in hypnotism / human behavior gone awry. The subjects cognitive information is examined, recorded, inputted and finally obliterated by the performers. In its surrealistic climax, the music overpowers the experiment demanding that a new language for scientific understanding be established.
Filter Films
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An experiential trip into sonic landscapes, “White Sound” explores the notion of a ‘soundless’ existence. Visualised through Deaf and hearing impaired observance, White Sound is a space where noise, silence and imagination converge. As auditory chaos increases in the world around us, silence is a sound in itself. The loudest sound of all.
White Sound
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An artist loses his artistic integrity and hires a private detective to find it.
Case of the Missing Artistic Integrity, The
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A hotel manager buys a frog for display in his lobby, prompting different reactions from both the guests and, eventually, the frog itself.
Frog Fortuna
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When a newly wed couple move in to the apartment upstairs, the elderly Mrs. Baxter begins to get suspicious of them and what may or may not be going on up there.
Upstairs
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After a twenty-year period of multiple illnesses and injuries, Friedrich turns the camera on herself as a way to analyze her chances for a happier, healthier life. In the process, she captures the frustration, tedium and petty annoyances of a revolving-door relationship with the medical establishment, while portraying the complicated web of emotions that accompany any medical problem. With humor and honesty, “The Odds of Recovery” uses the filmmaker’s medical history as a means to address a perennial human problem: the desire to avoid conflict and deny the need for radical change. “…plays with the genre of the self-portrait…all in interwoven layers of narrative…allows us to see a life and a relationship through these transparent and yet illuminating layers.” – Brian Kiteley, English & Creative Writing, DUKE UNIVERSITY “Friedrich makes flinty and form-minded, extremely pragmatic, highly personal, affecting movies.”- J. Hoberman THE VILLAGE VOICE “Friedrich’s latest feature takes a sometimes discomfiting but engrossing, good-humored look at her own long history of medical problems…Deftly assembled pic captures the frustration, tedium and petty annoyances of a revolving-door relationship with medical practitioners…”Recovery” [also] nicely limns the satisfaction brought by creativity in the kitchen and garden, with latter’s seasonal changes providing an overall conceptual frame…Nearly one-woman package is confidently assembled, with plenty of hands-on authorial flavor.” – Dennis Harvey, VARIETY PLUS BONUS FILM: Scar TissueTHE HEAD OF A PIN 21 minutes, Color, USA, 2004, Video THE HEAD OF A PIN reveals the awkward ruminations of the filmmaker and her friends as they attempt to learn about nature. Starting out as an examination of the differences between urban and rural life, the film turns unexpectedly into a wry portrait of what happens when city dwellers encounter a country spider.
Films of Su Friedrich, The: Volume 5 – The Odds of Recovery
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“Hide and Seek” tells the story of Lou, a twelve-year-old girl coming to terms with her budding sexuality in the mid 1960s. Her bittersweet tale is skillfully interwoven with clips from a wide array of scientific and educational films, as well as interviews with adult lesbians who recount their adolescent attractions to girls, how they felt when they first heard the word lesbian, where they fit in the butch/femme continuum, and their thoughts about how they became baby dykes. “Hide and Seek” is for every woman who’s been to a slumber party and every man who wonders what went on at one. * Outstanding Documentary Feature Award, 1997 OutFest, Los Angeles * Outstanding Documentary Feature Award, 1997, OutFest, Los Angeles * Best Narrative Award, 1997 Athens Film Festival * Juror’s Choice Award, 1997 Charlotte Film Festival “HIDE AND SEEK is rueful, funny, multifaceted and sharply intelligent.” – Stuart Klawans, THE NATION “HIDE AND SEEK is A GIRL’S OWN STORY for lesbians. Friedrich has woven a rich and provocative tapestry that assaults complacent assumptions about pubescent desire and lesbian identity, all the while raising important questions about the representation of racial and sexual fantasy life…Thoroughly engaging from beginning to end.” – Yvonne Rainer, filmmaker and Professor, UNIVERSTIY OF CA, IRVINE PLUS BONUS FILMS: GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM 14 minutes, B&W, USA, 1981, 16mm “GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM can be described about as easily as you can hold on to a handful of water. When the last image leaves the screen, you may not be able to say what you’ve seen, but you know what you’ve felt.” – Stuart Klawans, The Nation BUT NO ONE 9 minutes, B&W, USA, 1982, 16mm “The visual material of BUT NO ONE corresponds to the waking world of the filmmaker, but it is cast in the form of a dream. Its compact constellation of repeated images is satisfying, an important part of Friedrich’s ongoing exploration of film’s ability to work like dreams and convey a unique, personal vision.” – Janet Cutler, Women’s Experimental Cinema: Critical Frameworks
Films of Su Friedrich, The: Volume 4 – Hide and Seek
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A lyrical journey through the heart of Chicano culture as reflected in the love songs of the Tex-Mex Norteña music tradition. Shipped as a bonus film on the “Chulas Fronteras.”
Del Mero Corazon
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A c o n t e m p o r a r y c l a s s i c a n d a l a n d m a r k i n a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l f i l m m a k i n g , “Sink or Swim” i s a n u n f l i n c h i n g a c c o u n t o f t h e h i g h l y c h a r g e d r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n a d a u g h t e r a n d h e r f a t h e r . T h r o u g h a s e r i e s o f t w e n t y - s i x s h o r t s t o r i e s , a y o u n g g i r l c h r o n i c l e s t h e c h i l d h o o d e v e n t s t h a t s h a p e d h e r i d e a s a b o u t f a t h e r h o o d , f a m i l y r e l a t i o n s , w o r k a n d p l a y . A s t h e s t o r i e s u n f o l d , a d u a l p o r t r a i t e m e r g e s : t h a t o f a f a t h e r w h o c a r e d m o r e f o r h i s c a r e e r t h a n f o r h i s f a m i l y , a n d o f a d a u g h t e r w h o w a s d e e p l y a f f e c t e d b y h i s b e h a v i o r . W o r k i n g i n c o u n t e r p o i n t t o t h e f o r c e f u l t e x t a r e s e n s u a l b l a c k a n d w h i t e i m a g e s t h a t d e p i c t b o t h t h e e x t r a o r d i n a r y a n d o r d i n a r y e v e n t s o f d a i l y l i f e . T h i s f o r m a l l y c o m p l e x a n d e m o t i o n a l l y i n t e n s e f i l m i s f r a u g h t w i t h t e n s i o n , a m b i v a l e n c e a n d l o v e . * G r a n d P r i x , K i n o A w a r d s , 1 9 9 1 M e l b o u r n e F i l m F e s t i v a l * G o l d e n G a t e A w a r d , B e s t o f ” N e w V i s i o n s ” C a t e g o r y , 1 9 9 1 S a n F r a n c i s c o F i l m F e s t i v a l * G o l d J u r o r’s C h o i c e A w a r d , 1 9 9 3 C h a r l o t t e F i l m a n d V i d e o F e s t i v a l * B e s t E x p e r i m e n t a l F i l m , 1 9 9 1 U S A S h o r t F i l m a n d V i d e o F e s t i v a l * S p e c i a l J u r y A w a r d , 1 9 9 1 A t l a n t a F i l m F e s t i v a l * J u r o r’ s C i t a t i o n A w a r d , 1 9 9 1 B l a c k M a r i a F i l m F e s t i v a l “ T o u g h - m i n d e d a n d t o u c h i n g… a f f e c t i n g a n d a c c e s s i b l e .“ – C a r y n J a m e s , N E W Y O R K T I M E S “W o n d e r f u l l y a c c e s s i b l e… f u n n y a n d s a d . S p l e n d i d .” – J a n i c e B e r m a n , N E W Y O R K N E W S D A Y “P r o u d l y p e r s o n a l a n d t r i u m p h a n t l y a r t i s a n a l , a s a c c e s s i b l e a s i t i s u n c o m p r o m i s i n g .” – J . H o b e r m a n , P R E M I E R P L U S B O N U S F I L M S : C O O L H A N D S , W A R M H E A R T 1 6 m i n u t e s , C o l o r , U S A , 1 9 7 9 , 1 6 m m ” F i l m e d o n t h e s t r e e t s o f N e w Y o r k ’ s L o w e r E a s t S i d e , C O O L H A N D S , W A R M H E A R T c r e a t e s a u n u s u a l l y o r i g i n a l v i s i o n . F r i e d r i c h b u i l d s o n p r o v e r b s , m e t a p h o r , a n d t h e p r i n c i p l e s o f a r a d i c a l f e m i n i s t i m a g i n a t i o n , c r e a t i n g a w o r l d i n w h i c h w o m e n ’ s p r i v a t e r i t u a l s b e c o m e p u b l i c s p e c t a c l e s . ” – B . R u b y R i c h , a u t h o r , C h i c k F l i c k s S p e c i a l M e r i t A w a r d , A t h e n s F i l m F e s t i v a l S C A R T I S S U E 1 2 m i n u t e s , B & W , U S A , 1 9 7 8 , S u p e r 8 ” . . . p o w e r f u l a n d e c o n o m i c . S e t t i n g o u t t o f i l m s t r e e t a c t i v i t y , F r i e d r i c h e n d s u p w i t h b a s i c a l l y t w o i m a g e s - w o m e n ’ s l e g s s k i t t e r i n g i n h i g h h e e l s , a n d m e n ’ s m i d s e c t i o n s , h a n d s f o l d e d s e l f - r i g h t e o u s l y a c r o s s s t u f f e d s h i r t s o r p l a n t e d b e l l i g e r e n t l y i n p o c k e t s. The f i l m l e f t m e w i t h a y e n t o s e e o n e o f t h o s e h e e l s p l a n t e d s p l a t i n t h e m i d d l e o f o n e o f t h o s e b e l l i e s . ” – A m y T a u b i n , T h e V i l l a g e V o i c e
Films of Su Friedrich, The: Volume 3 – Sink or Swim
