At the beginning of 2022, Schwarz was a sophomore studying cinema and screenwriting at the university, but he was detached from his peers and the filmmaking community. It wasn’t for a lack of passion. Schwarz has been making films since he was 12, shooting stop-motion videos on a Nintendo DSi. But COVID-19 presented a huge challenge to his social life and health. He had his grandparents at home to think about, and an immunocompromised father.

Before returning home for spring break, he decided he wanted to submit something to Open Screen in April. Open Screen is a bi-annual event hosted by Bijou Film Board, a student organization at the University of Iowa. The competition is free and open to all university students and local filmmakers. Bijou screens the chosen submissions in front of an audience and a committee of judges at FilmScene, a local non-profit movie theater and a highlight of Iowa City’s arts community.

The Open Screen deadline came at a convenient time; he needed to shoot a documentary for one of his classes anyway. Why not just film both projects in the same week?

“Equinox” was filmed inside and inspired by Schwarz’ family home, a home whose history is almost impossible to believe. Schwarz describes it as a “weird, 19^th century building” rather than a “house.” The building originally functioned as a nursing home. Then, Schwarz said, roughly 60 to 70 years later, his grandparents bought the nursing home and turned it into an art school. Finally, Schwarz’ dad bought the building, making it a family home for Schwarz, his sisters, his parents, and his grandparents.

“We all have… strange, spiritual experiences being there,” Schwarz said. “Because, like, probably more than a hundred people have died there.”

One strange experience is a dream that Schwarz claims to share with his twin sister Sophie (21) and older sister Maggie (23). The dream, he says, involves a door appearing in a hallway inside their home.

Schwarz, with the help of his sisters, translated this dream into a nine-minute psychedelic and spooky short film. A red door materializes out of an empty space. Maggie emerges from the doorway, but the footage reverses and she walks right back in, seemingly into a black hole. Cut to two dark figures walking outside at night, an orange moon glowing in the distance. Cut to Maggie and an unnamed character dancing in a room splashed in red and purple light, with haunting vocalizations looping in the background. It’s no surprise that Schwarz lists David Lynch as one of his biggest inspirations.

Besides the mysterious visuals, one of the film’s most striking aspects is the music. This music is a product of Wave Guide, a band formed, once again, between Schwarz and his sisters.

“My sisters are everything in the world to me,” Schwarz said. “They’re such incredible artists and performers that I feel like I have to fit them in my films somehow, just because they bring so much to the table that I don’t personally have.”

Sophie worked as a private chef for a few years before taking on her current managerial position at a restaurant in Decorah, Iowa, Schwarz’ hometown. Maggie currently works for the Winneshiek County Conservation Board (also in Decorah), and is an independent artist, selling pieces at art shows and by commission. Maggie’s conservation work reflects the siblings’ childhood spent in nature, something that inspired Schwarz’ second film, “Spring Awakes.”

For his class documentary, Schwarz wanted to explore the transition between winter and spring. “Spring Awakes” combines footage from Decorah and Iowa City. There is no dialogue, save for audio from a pedestrian crossing (“Walk sign is on across Washington”). Snow falls across downtown Iowa City. Water flows over a rocky stream. Birds fly and dwell on tree branches. The film captures the sights and sounds of nature’s simple beauty, set to Schwarz’ self-composed calming synth score. Schwarz considers “Spring Awakes” his best work to date, and appreciates that it can exist as a piece of art without being tied to a narrative.

“Equinox” went on to win the judges’ Grand Prize and the Audience’s Choice award in the April 2022 Open Screen. Schwarz describes feeling shock, elation, and a sense that he shouldn’t have won. Prior to the competition, he didn’t think his work was on the same level as his peers.

Perhaps it was this sense of doubt, or the fact that he had just won a few months ago, that led Schwarz to believe there was no way that “Spring Awakes” would win the Grand Prize at the November 2022 Open Screen. He was just submitting it for fun. He thought it was his best work, but at the same time, he figured a quaint short film about “birds and stuff” would be less exciting than other submissions. And yet he won, again. And he still had trouble feeling good about his victory.

“I already had that moment, and other people deserve to have their moment in the spotlight too. So I probably won’t be submitting again,” Schwarz said. “But I’m very happy that I had that opportunity.”

Besides the material prizes he won from Open Screen (a projector and a GoPro that he is very thankful for and uses all the time), Schwarz gained community and new friendships, things he lacked since starting college. Even though he doesn’t plan on submitting, Schwarz will likely attend Open Screen again just to experience the exchange of art and ideas in a lively environment. 

“It’s incredible to be in a place that values art so highly,” Schwarz said of Iowa City. “Everybody is an artist here… you can talk to anybody on the street, and you can ask them about what they do, and they’ll tell you about what projects they’re working on.”

Speaking of projects, Schwarz has a new one up his sleeve. Aiming at a 30 or 40-minute runtime, the film features a main character that has lost his sense of self and starts seeing aliens in the sky. Schwarz said the film is inspired by his own growth. Forging strong friendships has allowed Schwarz to embrace himself in new ways, and he’s ready to take a step back and reflect on that journey.

“I’ve been so lucky,” Schwarz said. “My life has changed forever.”

You can watch both films on Schwarz’ YouTube channel.

The post Will Schwarz and the Tale of Two Open Screens appeared first on KRUI Radio.

These movements echoed throughout Iowa City on Jan. 20, when over 900 women and men marched downtown.

A participant and Women in Business Member, Abby Gainer, said the Women’s March brought solidarity and comfort to her state of mind, saying too many times women get in this mindset that they are in the struggle and fight for equality alone.

“The march was great for solidarity and bringing light to the movement, but the most important thing women can do each and every day is to hold people accountable for saying something negative about a woman that has nothing to do with her personality, but her appearance and body,” Gainer said.

The Women’s March may have been a one-day event, but its ideas and aspirations are coming back to Iowa City- this time on screen.

Throughout the entirety of March, FilmScene will only be screening films made solely by women. On the arthouse theater’s website, it states this about the upcoming event:

“In order to celebrate talented local, national and international female artists, FilmScene proudly presents Women’s March. Showcasing films made exclusively by women throughout the entire month of March 2018, featuring new releases alongside classic cinema, films with local roots, and dialogues about the female perspective in the industry.”

The program director at FilmScene, Rebecca Fons, said female filmmakers should be spotlighted and showcased because of their lack of exposure in cinema. She said this idea hit center-stage when the Weinstein allegations came out on Oct. 5, causing FilmScene to discuss internally what its responsibility is as an exhibitor of film.

“We hope to achieve edu-tainment, in that we’ll be showing people films, so you’re going to be entertained, but there’s a little bit of eat your vegetables too,” Fons said. “I think people will come away with a better understanding of female voices in the industry today, yesterday, and tomorrow.”

Part of understanding the #timesup and #metoo movements is becoming familiar with gender roles in the history of film.

With that knowledge Hanna Bonner, Executive Director of Bijou in Iowa City, said the movements have brought to life a history of gender discrimination in film, but one aspect of the movement that’s puzzling to her and many people is what to do with movie classics that currently appear as sexist, or misogynistic towards women; but in their release the subject matter was the status quo.

“I think it’s a complicated thing to reconcile your politics with things you take pleasure in viewing,” Bonner said. “Some of my favorite movies, maybe the gender politics don’t match my own politics, but the visual language and grammar is something I enjoy regardless.”

Since the Weinstein allegations came out, the entertainment world has been in a conundrum on what to do with problematic subject matter in films. For example, last Christmas CNN’s Carol Costello ran an opinion piece about the sexist nature of the Holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, and if the movie should be retired.

She’s not alone on this idea, as throughout history people have sought to ban or censor art because of its offensive material. Just this past Monday, Feb. 12, a Minnesota school district banned Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” from the school’s curriculum because of their racist language.

Bonner said offensive material can be viewed if audiences are active spectators by critically engaging with what’s problematic in the content. The controversial subject matter is how people living today learn from the past. Rather than reading about it in a textbook, actually feeling characters’ emotions from specific moments in time is a fundamental way of learning about history.

“We can educate ourselves on what the tone and temperature was then,” Fons said. “In doing that, we can compare films from now and say ten years ago, and look at what’s changed and stayed the same.”

Understanding the patriarchal frame of cinema is only one aspect of being a better voyeur, the next step is exposure and highlighting the incredible work done by females in film over the course of history

FilmScene plans on doing exactly that this March with some events already planned, such as “Pioneer Wednesday” where the arthouse will screen movies done by women who worked to break the glass ceilings in film. Mondays are designated for contemporary movies directed by women, with most of the women being out of the mainstream spotlight. Saturday’s will be for local films directed by women and FilmScene will also be hosting an animation camp for young girls.

“It comes down to having options for representation, being able to see more of a spectrum of behavior instead of one type of way of portraying gender,” Bonner said.

The post Breaking the Fourth Wall: Iowa City’s FilmScene will continue marching for women appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Dance and film are interesting art forms to combine and play off of one another. When dance is performed in front of the camera, there are lots of things for the filmmaker to consider. What is the best way to film this dance? Should the camera move with the dancers? Should it accentuate certain moments and movements, or should it stay stationary and not risk losing some aspect of the dance? Each of these films approached these issues in unique and creative ways, and left me considering how different mediums of art can intersect and interact with one another

The first film in the festival was Sebastien Farges and Viloleta Rodriquez’s Marque d’Eau. It began with a woman dancing through an urban street, as if being pulled along by an invisible force. A child’s voice over (in French) then told a surreal and imaginative story, which the woman acted out through her dance. They camera shakily followed along, accentuating the dancer’s constant steps forward. One particularly great scene featured the woman dancing through the street barefoot, in the rain, to the sound of a child playing on the beach. The film’s focus on portraying adolescence through dance was particularly effective.

The next film was Tori Lawrence and Chistopher Landy’s Elizabeth. This film followed two women, first trapped in their respective seats before breaking free and finding each other. They then performed a dance together, focusing on physically linking their bodies together. The editing of this piece featured lots of cuts, with the camera frequently shifting its position around the dancers. This seemed to disrupt what looked like a very fluid dance, and in my opinion its use of the camera did more to distract the viewer from the dance rather than add a new dimension to it.

The Dizzying Crest, created by Jeremy Moss and Pamela Vail, approached the camera in an entirely different way. Shot in grainy and distorted 16mm film, the film began by playing with light, as a ballerina danced in a small shadowy space. As the film progressed, it began to experiment with the physical medium of the film. Various colors, effects, and shapes made their way onto the film strip, building in intensity until the ballerina was almost indecipherable. While the effect was certainly interesting, there dance and the film felt like two very different.

The final film I’ll discuss was Elizabeth Bergman, Kaitlyn Busbee, and Joshua Dumas’s Introspect. This film was my favorite of the festival, and was the most effective blend of dance and film. It explored the tension between various dichotomies, such as male and female, performer and audience, and groups and individuals. These themes were all explored through slick dance numbers, and stunning camera shots. There were digital effects, and perfectly positioned shots that melded flawlessly with the motions and movements of the performer. This film in particular, truly felt like a dance for the camera, rather than a dance performed in front of a camera.

Check out the rest of the Mission Creek Festival calendar here

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