Trees of Syntax, Leaves of Axis

“Trees of Syntax, Leaves of Axis” is Saïto’s second collaboration with musician Malcolm Goldstein, who composed and performed the original structured improvisation score for the film. The film explores familiar landscape imagery Saïto and Goldstein share in their neighbourhood at the foot of Mount-Royal Park in Montréal. Using images of maple trees in the park as the main visual motif, Saïto creates a film in which the formations of the trees and their subtle interrelation with the space around them act as an agent to transform viewer’s sensorial perception. Richly colored and entirely hand-processed, “Trees of Syntax, Leaves of Axis” is a poem of vision and sound that seeks perceptual insight and revelation through a syntactical structure based on patterns, variations and repetition. Jury Grand Prize, 16th Annual Media City Film Festival, 2010