WORK
2020 | 57 min
"WORK" is a captivating documentary that delves into the recording journey of the first album by Wooden Cities, a new music ensemble based in Buffalo. This 56-minute film, captured during their summer 2018 sessions, offers an intimate look at the creative process, featuring insightful interviews by director Mani Mehrvarz with the ensemble's musicians and director, Brendan Fitzgerald. The documentary is enriched with innovative animations for two sections of Frederic Rzewski's "The Price of Oil," marking its debut recording. These animations, a collaborative effort between Mani Mehrvarz and Maryam Muliaee, utilize over 8,000 stop motion frames to highlight the composition's commentary on labor and environmental justice. Also included are poignant tributes to historical labor movements through Cardew's "Red Flag Prelude" and the ensemble's own "Chain Gang," a piece of dynamic free improvisation, further emphasizing the film's exploration of music as a medium for social commentary and change.
Cast and Crew
Director and Editor: Mani Mehrvarz
Music: Wooden Cities
Animation: Maryam Muliaee
Producers: Buffalo Documentary Project & Wooden Cities
Co-producer: Infrasonic Press
Featuring: Brendan Fitzgerald, Megan Kyle, Ethan Hayden, Nicholas Emmanuel, Evan Courtin, Katie Weissman
Testimonials
“This striking film provides welcome opportunity to meet the musicians of the Buffalo, N.Y. ensemble, Wooden Cities; and see its artistic and educational mission come to life through a series of interviews, rehearsals, and an extended, animated performance. Recommended!”
— Jeffrey Stadelman, Composer
“Work captures the collective’s democratic process, as the ensemble decides what kind of music they want to make—and the new Wooden Cities’ album begins to take form. A testament to passion of the performers and the thrill of creation, the film itself is a work of interdisciplinary art, melding documentary footage, music, and cutting-edge animation.”
— Kirsten Miller, New York Times bestselling author
“With an extremely important and present political message, the film, through the dramatization archeology of media, shows us the deep roots of neoliberal exploitation. The compositional structure of the film equally emphasizes the poetic-typographic, musical, graphic-animation treatment of the structure, in comprehensively successful experimentation with form.”
— The Unforeseen – International Experimental Film Festival
