Blank Productions 2023
Written & directed by Mark C. Hewitt
Music by Thomas Strønen
performed by Extended Ground feat. Eivind Aarset (guitar)
Videography/Editing: Matt Parsons
Cast: Marta Carvalho, Leann O'Kasi, Melissa Sirol.
The film version of Songs of the Chambermaids - a sequence from my play Civilization and its Discontents - was joint winner in the Best Experimental Film category following its premiere live screening at Brighton Rocks International Film Festival in June 2023.
Over three ‘songs’, variously chanted or spoken over music for drum ensemble by Norwegian percussionist and composer Thomas Strønen, the sequence charts the narrative arc of Sigmund Freud’s essay Civilization and its Discontents, reimagined in the voices of three chambermaids, Ana, Bo and Cressida.
The work also won Best Experimental Film at Bestlov Film Festival, was a Finalist in the Music Video category at ARFF Amsterdam, received an Honorable Mentions at Star International Film Festival (Firenze) and Your Way International Film Festival (Valletta, Malta). It is a Finalist/Nominee at Nocturna Online Brooklyn Film Festival and at YETI FilmFest in Reykjavik.
Read a review/interview with Sarah Smith of Brighton Rocks Film Festival that goes into the origins and development of the piece as well as Sarah's own perception of the work. Link here »
Left to right: Melissa Sirol as Cressida, Marta Carvalho as Ana, Leann O'Kasi as Bo.
