△▽△ERICA SCHREINER△▽

 
 

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Satori / ©2015 / running time: 1hr 33min

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Official trailer for Satori - feature length performative analog video // filmed, performed & edited by Erica Schreiner / original sceenplay by Erica Schreiner / contact to host a screening.

Full length movie, total running time: 1hr 33min // silent w/subtitles

Two years in the making, Satori is a feature length art film, created by New York based, video and performance artist, Erica Schreiner. Shot on a VHS camera, Erica performs before the camera while simultaneously operating the camera. Erica made the picture entirely by herself; writing, editing and acting.


Nightly, Satori gives birth to eggs and sells them in order to make enough money to survive so she can continue to make art. Satori becomes worn out and conflicted with this act of selling part of herself and discusses this and the many aspects of being an artist with her friends: An encouraging unicorn, the all-knowing goddess, Isis, and a very disagreeable Beta fish. Together they help Satori find a way into the Universe where she goes in search of meaning and answers about her current existence as an artist.


Satori was independently created and financed, and is a visionary art piece with an important message. Satori struggles to divide her time between cultivating her personal passion and working to make money for survival, within the system. Satori and the other magical characters contemplate the meaning of life, Satori’s experience, lack of privilege and opportunities, and the affect it has on her ability to create. She challenges the money system, at one point, burning up all of her money because she was “starting to believe in the value of the stuff.” Satori ultimately finds her personal freedom outside the hierarchy of control, illustrated with anarchist themes and philosophical dialog.

 

TESTIMONIALS:

A singular and uncompromising vision, both surreal and hyper-real.
-Dustin Dis, artist


Erica Schreiner has done a remarkable job with minimal technology and props to create a mesmerizing personal film and testament to the examined life of an artist with its own unique mythology and conviction. Ms. Schreiner is a very talented video artist who has created a world of compelling visual mystery with humor, majesty and grace. Her compositional intelligence adds a creative structure that demands attention and gives great reward. I salute her industry and hard work.
-Michael Oruch, NYC painter


The film Satori creates a beautiful palate of lush color, juxtaposed with minimal sound. Within the context of this background, Satori explores an artist seeking to fully understand the true meaning of the relationship between art and artist. Most poignantly, the main character bravely risks a permanent descent into madness, in her quest.
-Cynthia L. Seagren, writer


An uncompromising and beautiful feature length art-film, Satori is an enchanting dance between absurdity and reason, between silence and abrasive sound with impeccable pacing, aesthetic, humor and wit.
-B May Gibson, musician and artist


I was curious about Erica’s choices with sound. I liked the effect of the audio coming in at the times that it did. The "coming home from work" scene was maybe the most memorable one. A lot of things came together in that one. Something about the painting of the apples and then the coming home with an empty basket, with the sudden burst of ambient noise really captured the feeling of alienation that comes from putting lots of energy into something futile... It's usually hard to pay attention to something totally silent, but the images she showed really do manage to hold your attention, unaccompanied by sound. Right now I'm thinking specifically about the egg-smashing scene. The images, plus the timing of her editing, plus the silence, had a really distinct and powerful effect. My favorite of the conversations with Satori's friends was about the idea of making art for rich people... the idea that you have to work toward a point where you are doing your best work, and also assume that rich people will like your best work, when there's really no guarantee that they will! I laughed out loud at that dialogue... In general, the way the dialogue was handled was amazing! It's a very simple way to get around the audio issues that hold back many low budget filmmakers, and I'm pretty sure everyone has thought of it at one time or another. But Erica actually did it. I think the rest of us are afraid to do it, because it's such a break of convention.
-Benny Paul, blogger and folk singer


Satori is about the life of the Artist, about trying to survive and make Art without compromising oneself. It explores the theme of Enlightenment of the Mind and of the Senses. The Artist in the film, Satori, goes out into the Universe and discovers life’s ultimate meaning and great secret, that we are One with the Universe and everyone and everything in it. I watched this beautiful film with rapt attention. I loved its colorful, sensual, powerful imagery. It is profound and a singular achievement. Erica Schreiner has created a masterpiece.
-Mary Lou Tornes, NYC Poet


Why does Candy Darling [the fish] have such a bad attitude?
-Mike Garcia, musician

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-excerpt taken from The Spiritual Journey of Jodorowsky by Alejandro Jodorowsky