A sold-out crowd at LACMA’s Bing Theater was on hand for the 11th annual Muse Young Directors Night to view a diverse slate of short films and then pick the winning director.
There was laughter, there were some shrieks and possibly even some tears as the movies unspooled during the two-hour program
“A Sushi Love Story” from director Mike Blaney was an homage to George Melies and the early days of cinema, a symbolic story of a boy leaving home told by animated pieces of sushi shot in the kitchen of Blaney’s parent’s home.
“In Captivity” was the futuristic tale of an endangered species, a young man held captive in an enclosed world and on view to spectators, living a great life until the introduction into his environment of a female of the species. Directed by Michael Koerbel, the piece was shot in a Los Angelesf urniture showroom and features an unexpected happy ending in a completely different environment.
In “Contra el Mar” (Against the Sea), director Richard Parkin tells the story of a Mexican deep sea diver whose wife disapproves of his dangerous profession. An accident at sea forces the lead character to confront the deadly nature of his job, his dream of owning his own boat and his commitment to his own family, which includes the coupe’s adorable young boy.
“Snow” tells the little-known true story of a physician in 1854 London who discovered the roots of a virulent, deadly cholera outbreak that took the lives of many residents in the Soho District. In the period piece directed by Isaac Ergas, leading medical authorities of the time are blaming it on poisonous air, while Dr. John Snow uncovers a controversial and entirely different theory, piecing together a puzzle that eventually anoints him as the father of modern epidemiology.
“The Last Rites” is what director Namina Forna called a black zombie story, a horror short that depicts a young woman fighting a zombie apocalypse outside her home that threatens to turn her trapped mother into a monster.
In “Thembi’s Diary,” director Jisoo Kim animates the true story of a 17-year-old South African girl with HIV and how she copes with the virus by speaking to it every morning. The script was taken from an audio documentary aired on NPR.
“To Rest in Peace,” directed by Fawaz Al-Matrouk, takes viewers back to the time of occupied Kuwait in 1990. The story is based upon real events and centers around two men who discover two corpses in a car that is purposefully left in full view by authorities as a message to the populace. When one of them takes it upon himself to give them a burial, the drama grows even more intense.
After the screenings, all of the directors took the stage with the host committee, made up of LACMA film curator Elvis Mitchell, Josh Welch, co-president of Film Independent and Maggie McKay, also with Film Independent and discussed the back stories of their respective projects.
The audience then got to vote, via paper ballot or text message, on their favorite film and director.
Muse is known for its fun-filled parties based around art and the directors joined a boisterous crowd across the street in the lobby of the 5900 Wilshire Boulevard building for a late-night celebration before the winner was announced. The theme of course, movies, with movie candy handed out by “cigarette” girls, fresh popcorn, sodas, beer and vodka drinks.
The honor went to Parkin for his family drama set against the backdrop of dangerous deep-sea fishing, shot on location in Baja, Mexico. Yet all of the films were well-received and pretend bright futures for their creators.
With the arrival of the rock that morning after its long journey on a huge custom-built rig from a quarry in Riverside County, several of the Muse partygoers didn’t let any moss grow, and made their way to the corner of Fairfax and 6th Street to get a view of the museum’s monolithic new star.
But to see the centerpiece of the upcoming outdoor exhibit, “Levitated Mass,” one had to work hard to get a view, even under a full moon. The rock was blocked by a construction fence and required a little climb to take a peek.
The exact date of debut has not been set, but LACMA director Michael Govan put it this way: “What’s a few more weeks when it will be here forever?” And we can’t wait to walk under the rock.
