news

Ashley Sabin & David Redmon’s Shortlist

Published on June 22, 2009

The Shortlist article series is your opportunity to learn about the films that inspire intellectual, artistic and activist leaders—leaders like Ashley Sabin and David Redmon. We asked Ashley and David to share their favorite films and their thoughts on the power of documentary to change the world.

So what films make Ashley Sabin and David Redmon’s Shortlist? Keep reading to find out.

Who are Ashley Sabin and David Redmon

Ashley Sabin and David Redmon

David Redmon directed Mardi Gras: Made in China, co-directed Kamp Katrina, Intimidad, and Invisible Girlfriend with partner Ashley Sabin.

David Redmon and Ashley Sabin formed the distribution branch of Carnivalesque Films in 2008 and have released Mardi Gras: Made in China, Orphans, Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose, Manhattan, Kansas, Low and Behold.

They will release Kamp Katrina, Woodpecker, The New Year Parade and Intimidad this summer.

Both David and Ashley are currently completing three more documentary projects titled Twisted, Darlings, and Ms. Pearl The Musical.

Carnivalesque Films curates stories united by the raw and startling sensibilities of transgression, spectacle, and variations of truth and falseness. Named for Carnival, a celebration where societal norms are turned on their heads and excess and transgression rule the day, Carnivalesque Films seeks to disrupt a viewer’s most cherished beliefs in unexpected ways. Visually kaleidoscopic, they mash together wildly contrasting styles and jarring images, intentionally violating accepted rules of perfect cuts, standard lighting, and conventional storytelling. In real life, people behave irrationally, succumbing to madness or self-destruction in pursuit of dreams and desires. Carnivalesque Films acknowledges these dreams and desires by exploring them as “literature” from the character’s point of view. Our collection of films are told in fresh, open-ended ways without telling viewers what to think.

Ashley Sabin and David Redmon on the Power of Film

Inspired by our predecessors (Albert and David Maysles, Barbara Kopple, Fredrick Wiseman), we decided to forge ahead out of respect and love for visual stories by creating paths to release our films. As filmmakers ourselves, we understand the desire, tenacity and attachment to complete a film and bring it to audiences. We believe we’re in a unique and lucky position to find homes for films as well as facilitate their movement into the marketplace of images in ways that make them stand out.

Carnivalesque Films approaches filmmaking one day at a time, focusing on the ethics of commitment, hard work, and small moments of intimacy combined with skill and heart so films can live full and deliberate lives. We think of ourselves as “dependent” filmmakers and distributors instead of “independent.” In truth, no one does it alone. We (and other filmmakers and distributors) are dependent on organizations to secure screening venues, donate their time and energy, create an audience, and offer a much needed social and psychological support network for everyone involved in the complicated world of storytelling and distribution.

Ashley Sabin and David Redmon’s Picks

Devil and Daniel Johnston: I don’t feel like I can say that enough about The Devil. Astonishing in its commitment to detail, story, and sound design. Gimme Shelter is there too, but a second pick on music documentary would be You’re Gonna Miss Me. Both films let the characters be themselves and do a great balance between music and bio, whereas Gimme Shelter puts the characters in a room to watch their story unfold and doesn’t let them out.

Viridiana: This film was inspirational in structuring the making of Kamp Katrina. Its visual metaphors are fantastic. It also challenges the viewer and any stereotypes one may hold, but can also reinforce them.

I Am Curious (Yellow and Blue): We love the mixture of documentary and narrative, fact and fiction, the play on truth.

Seventeen: An undistributed gem. Seventeen provides a very intimate, bump and go look into a group of teens growing up in Muncie. PBS pulled it out of their station back in the 80’s when a sponsor was offended by an interracial relationship. If you’ve had an inkling to see American Teen don’t and try to find a copy of Seventeen and watch it. Side story: we met Jeff Kreines, one of the directors, at a screening of Kamp Katrina in Alabama. This was a memorable moment in our brief careers.

Nowhere: Bizarre film. Takes the viewer for a dark, colorful, and comical ride if you allow yourself to let go

Documentary Series—The Staircase: Gripping series that the Sundance Channel put out. An unfortunate number of events lead to a court case where the audience is to decide who is guilty. We both watched it in one sitting.

Dark Days: Shot on film in the NYC subway system. You can tell the filmmaker devoted a lot of time, energy, and stamina in the production of this film.

A Woman Under the Influence: The cast in this movie couldn’t be better. Feels like a documentary within a movie. The scenes play out which inspires us to take risks as far as letting a scene spontaneously unravel.

Hoop Dreams: Pretty common inspiration among documentary filmmakers, but you’ll know why after watching it. Hoop Dreams and Harlan County USA are excellent examples of creating longitudinal landmarks in documentary history. Devotion to characters and story makes both films excel in so many ways.

Clean, Shaven: This is one of David’s favorites. Told from the point of view of the main character. It’s not a black and white issue and you don’t know what to believe or who to trust. The story comes alive and sits in front of your face thus allowing the viewer to fill in gaps, imagine missing scenes, and make decisions as we go along for an unexpected ride.

This article is available for noncommercial use under a Creative Commons license. It was originally published on MediaRights.org, a project of Arts Engine, Inc. This notice must accompany the article at all times.

Comments (1) | Leave a Comment | Share:

Share Your Thoughts

Comments

I’ve met them at a film fest several yrs ago they were on a panel and were discussing the whole process of filming traveling just trying to stay afloat sorta but glad to see them still doing it and still shooting thats great big ups to ashley and david

Posted on 2009 07 30 by william clark