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North By Current

Panorama Dokumente 2021
© Angelo Madsen Minax
Three years after the unexplained death of his niece Kalla, artist and filmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax returns to his Mormon family’s home in the small town in Michigan where his father’s sawmill is located. His sister Jesse, who had found temporary stability as a mother after a difficult youth and addiction problems, is suspected by the authorities of being responsible, along with her partner David, for the death of their daughter Kalla. While Jesse struggles with her trauma and depression, her mother gradually opens up to the camera. Everything is brought out into the open during emotional discourses including, time and again, the filmmaker’s transition which has been the cause of much upheaval in the family.
The distances the filmmaker covers on long car journeys to his family are emblematic of the slow process of rapprochement. The chronology of their meetings is enriched by home video footage and voiceover dialogue with Kalla’s imagined spirit. A personal essay that spans a broad arc, negotiating the topics of depression, domestic violence, motherhood and transgender masculinity in what turns out to be cathartic family therapy.
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by Angelo Madsen Minax USA 2021 English 86’ Colour Documentary form

Part of the Berlinale Summer Special

Crew

Written and Directed by Angelo Madsen Minax
Cinematography Angelo Madsen Minax
Editing Angelo Madsen Minax
Music Julien Baker
Sound Design Angelo Madsen Minax
Producer Felix Endara
Executive Producers Charlotte Cook, Chris White, Justine Nagan

Produced by

HARD FLOW

Photos

Berlinale Meets | Interview

Angelo Madsen Minax

© Jules Rosskam

The filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist was born in Petoskey, Michigan in the USA in 1983. He studied art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and at Northwestern University. His work, which encompasses documentary, fiction and hybrid film forms, sound and music performances, text and media installations, has been presented at the European Media Art Festival, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, in the Anthology Film Archives in New York and at numerous film festivals.

Filmography

2010 Riot Acts: Flaunting Gender Deviance in Music Performance; documentary 2012 The Year I Broke My Voice; short film 2014 My Most Handsome Monster; short film 2015 Separation of the Earth (By Fire); short film 2017 The Source is a Hole; short film · Kairos Dirt & the Errant Vacuum 2018 The Eddies; short film 2020 At the River; short film 2021 Two Sons and a River of Blood; short film, co-director: Amber Bemak · North By Current

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021