Remodernist Film - History

History

The idea of Stuckism in relation to filmmaking and photography started 2001 when Jesse Richards and Nicholas Watson began releasing work as The New Haven Stuckists Film Group. On March 8, 2008 their film Shooting at the Moon made its London premiere at Horse Hospital during its FLIXATION Underground Cinema Club event. Remodernist Film and Photography was founded by Richards and Smith in 2004.

Films later seen as Remodernist included Youngblood (1995) by Harris Smith, Shooting at the Moon (1998–2003) by Jesse Richards and Nicholas Watson, and Medway Bus Ride (1999) by Wolf Howard.

Amos Poe is part of the movement, which he said was "just a bunch of kids." He said in 2008:

I guess remodernist is the next variation of post-modernist, which is to take something that was in the culture before and then turn it into something else, like taking it out of context. So it's kind of what pop art was in a way. I was using Warhol as kind of a soup can. It's like redoing that but it's done in a completely remodernist way because it's using the technology and the sensibility of contemporary rather than nostalgia.

In late August, 2009, an International Alliance of Remodernist Filmmakers was started by Jesse Richards in order to promote discussion and collaboration amongst those following the manifesto. The filmmakers include Jesse Richards, Harris Smith, Christopher Michael Beer, Dmitri Trakovsky, Kate Shults, Peter Rinaldi and Khurrem Gold of America, Roy Rezaali of Holland, Rouzbeh Rashidi of Iran and Dean Kavanagh of Ireland.

In October, 2009, with the intention "to further develop and explain Remodernist film concepts", a series of articles by Jesse Richards, Peter Rinaldi and Roy Rezaali were published in the magazine MungBeing.

Richards said, "Remodernism rejected Postmodernism for its 'failure to answer or address any important issues of being a human being'", and that Remodernism is "about seeking truth, establishing meaningful connections" and "addressing the shadow".

In his essay Concepts and Craft in Remodernist Film, Richards said that Remodernist film craft "embraces the amateur", involves the idea of filmmakers "teaching themselves to paint pictures, to try acting in their own movies and those of others (especially if they are shy), to be nude models for other artists, to meditate, worship if they are religious, to do things that affect their levels of consciousness, try things that make them nervous or uncomfortable, to go out and be involved in life, to find adventure, to jump in the ocean. I think that is the exploration of craft".

The article explains the differences between modernist, post-modernist and remodernist cinema, describing Robert Bresson and Andrei Tarkovsky as "early Remodernist filmmakers", and notes films that make emphasis of "small moments", including Bela Tarr's film Satantango, "...every moment of the film Satantango is a good example of this kind of exploration of "moments"- the film starts with a ten minute shot following cows coming out of a barn and wandering around a run-down agriculture collective. These kinds of moments are all but ignored in most examples of modern cinema, and that's a terrible, terrible thing".

Richards says of Remodernist filmmaking:

I believe that the most effective way to really make subjective and authentic work involves an "addressing of the shadow" (as Billy Childish and Charles Thomson have described it). Now what does this mean exactly? It might mean that you are really obsessed with pubic hair, or maybe you are really embarrassed by a physical or mental disability that you try to hide, or like Billy Childish, you were abused as a child. These things, these "shadows" that we are hiding within ourselves, need to be brought forth into the light of day - in our films, in our work, in our poetry.

In another article, entitled A Quick Primer and History, Richards relaxes the criticism in the manifesto against digital video, noting that it can "have a place in Remodernist cinema" but that it should be given a new language, and that it currently "mimic(s) film". The article also broadens the aim of the movement, explaining the common bond among Remodernist filmmakers being a search for truth, knowledge, authenticity and spirituality in their work, but having different approaches on achieving that goal.

Peter Rinaldi, analyzes the manifesto and shares his "personal thoughts" on it in his essay, The Shore as seen from The Deep Sea. Particularly, he defends the criticism of digital and later of Stanley Kubrick, saying first, "for the most part, the "easiness" of video has led to degradation in the images created", and:

I think, for the most part, the generation that I grew up in had Kubrick as their Giant. His work has a mystical "perfectionism" that is awe-inspiring at times. This perfectionism is anathema to the Remodernist mentality and for many healthy reasons, this giant (or whatever giant towers over your work) must fall in our minds. We must become the giant.

The rest of the article draws direct connections between ideas in the manifesto and some Christian and Buddhist teachings.

In June 2010, after publishing a letter from Richards about the Remodernist Film Manifesto on his site, film critic Roger Ebert tweeted, "Much discussed on serious film blogs: The Remodernist Film Manifesto. Lars von Trier, get out of town".