The Trash Trout Motion Picture Show (2022)
16mm. color, 10 minutes
I worked with local water protectors to collect refuse from headwaters streams. During a series of free public workshops, participants taped trash from the river to 16mm film strips. I edited the film strips into a 350-foot reel of motion picture film, then collaborated with musicians and dancers to create a live soundtrack to perform while the film is projected.
Follow this link for a list of upcoming screenings and performances.
Benthic Salvage (2020)
16mm, color, 3 minutes
A short 16mm film made from plastic salvaged from the river and woven into a backlit scroll that feeds a “cranky” – a hand made box that displays images to accompany Appalachian ballads.
Does Water Die? (2019)
Animation, 3 minutes
This animation is a collaboration between filmmaker Tom Hansell and photographer Joshua White. First, photographic paper is drenched in water from the New River near the artists’ homes in Ashe County, North Carolina. Next, organic and manmade materials gathered from the river are placed on the photographic paper and exposed in direct sunlight. Finally, these images are digitally animated and natural sounds from the river are added to complete the film.
Water Cycle (2018)
16mm, color, two minutes
Water Cycle is a short experimental film that explores human interaction with freshwater ecosystems. I collected plastic, sand, and moss from the New River and taped them to clear 16mm film leader in homage to Stan Brakhage’s experimental filmmaking. The soundtrack is a mix of field recordings from the river’s headwaters on Snake Mountain, North Carolina to its mouth in Gauley Bridge, West Virginia.
Water Cycle was selected for the 57th annual Ann Arbor Film Festival’s traveling tour.
Keep Your Eye Upon The Scale (2015)
1/2″ portapack and digital video, thirteen minutes
Keep Your Eye upon the Scale is a documentary collaboratively produced for Southern Spaces by Tom Hansell, Patricia Beaver, and Angela Wiley. This short video features previously unpublished footage recorded by Helen Lewis, John Gaventa, and Richard Greatrex as part of their project to document the cultures of Appalachian and Welsh mining communities in the 1970s. Featured performers include Appalachians Rich Kirby and The Strange Creek Singers, as well as Welsh male choir Cor Meibion Onllwyn. It can be viewed from the Southern Spaces online journal.
Juice (2007)
digital video, four minutes
This short silent film was edited from archival footage about electricity production. This piece is usually presented as part of the Sunbuggy self powered video installation
Tom Hansell 