Hard Light Cinema

hello once again hard light nation!!!!

Thanks for joining us for our recent series at RPL, TWO BY LUCRECIA MARTEL! We’ve got another by Ms. Martel coming soon – her new (and first!) documentary, OUR LAND (tix available now!) – but in the meantime, it’s time to announce our next series as we enter the summer 🌞

We are excited to announce BURDEN OF THE BEAST, a series of films about animals, people who work with animals, and the institutions that bring them into relation. The films explore the ethics of human intervention in wild (and urban) ecologies, the commoditization of animals into profit, and the possibilities of connection between human and animals beyond the power structures they exist within. Each documentary exhibits similar artistic impulses of our previous series: complex narrative structure, slow pacing, and beautifully focused cinematography and sound design.

— Syd, Hard Light Cinema

---

BURDEN OF THE BEAST:

1. Geographies of Solitude (2022) dir. Jacquelyn Mills
2. Sweetgrass (2009) dir. Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Ilisa Barbash
3. Zoo (1993) dir. Frederick Wiseman

Geographies of Solitude (2022) dir. Jacquelyn Mills

Geographies of Solitude follows an ecologist who has lived alone for over 40 years on Sable Island, which is otherwise un-human-inhabited. She meticulously records data on everything surrounding her, from the life cycles of wild horses, to every piece of trash she finds. Shot on gorgeous 16mm and interrupted by cameraless film experiments, Jacquelyn Mill’s debut feature is a gentle, thorough conversation between art, science, and wildness.

To be preceded by Not Wasting My Time, a short film about New Yorkers who feed, trap, and home stray cats in their spare time, mostly under cover of night, by Derek Howard.

— Syd, Hard Light Cinema

Sweetgrass (2009) dir. Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Ilisa Barbash

Sweetgrass, by the directors of Leviathan, chronicles the end of a sheep herding tradition as modern-day cowboys lead their flocks through Montana’s treacherous and breath-taking Absaroka-Beartooth mountains for a last summer pasture. At the core of its observational, unromantic composition, it is a labor film documenting the practice of American animal husbandry as it changes in style, but not substance.

— Syd, Hard Light Cinema

Zoo (1993) dir. Frederick Wiseman

Zoo sees the return of Frederick Wiseman to RPL with his visit to, you guessed it, a zoo. In his typical straightforward approach, Wiseman shows behind-the-scenes operations of the Miami Zoo – from janitors, to zookeepers, to the executive director – in contrast to its public-facing image. With masterful construction, Wiseman elucidates the mundane routines of keeping animals in cages.

— Syd, Hard Light Cinema

---

PLEASE BE ADVISED that all films contain images of animal death. Zoo specifically contains scenes of violent handling of animals, surgery on animals, and the dissection of a baby animal.

As always, our screenings at RPL are FREE! All films will be in the downstairs auditorium of the Main Street location, and will start at 2pm. There is ample free street parking surrounding RPL that is unlimited on weekends. Free refreshments will also be available inside. We are very appreciative of our hosts at the Richmond Public Library Main Branch for making this partnership possible. Hope to see you there!

xo hard light 💟