christie pits film festival
sunday, august 28, 2022

american utopia

With the short films The Story of the Dancing Heart and Monologue Harmonic

Musical mastermind David Byrne (former frontman of the Talking Heads) has never been one to rest on his laurels, constantly reinventing himself and exploring new artistic projects, different media, and unexpected collaborations. American Utopia represents yet another career high, as he teams up with an international crew of talented musicians and dancers to mount a Broadway show, captured on film by fellow New York New York legend Spike Lee. What could be a nostalgic cash-in revue of a well-known back catalogue morphs into a radical re-imagining of Byrne’s music past and present, thanks to wildly experimental performances, choreography, staging, and cinematography. Just when they have the audience in the palm of their hands, Byrne and Lee use their platform to directly engage with contemporary politics and the Black Lives Matter movement, in a stirring demonstration of the power of art to advocate for justice.

Tonight’s shorts likewise synthesize music, movement, visuality, and politics. In Toronto-based Kichwa digital media artist and filmmaker Sacha Samay Arcentales Cajas’ avant-garde short The Story of the Dancing Heart, four dancers joyously and comically embody “Mind’s” curious attempts to learn the uninhibited rhythm of “Heart.” Indigenous collaborative artistic group Bawaadan Collective’s Monologue Harmonic pushes the boundaries of experimental film and music video aesthetics, weaving together different traditions and artistic practices to conjure a surreal spiritual journey between culture lost to colonialism and vibrant new expressions of Indigenous experience. Taken together, these films are a celebration of art, music, dance, poetry, collaboration, and playful performance – a perfect final note to close our first summer season in our home park after a long absence.