It has been a privilege to get to know filmmaker Sarey Martin Concepción through Theology Beer Camp. At TBC last year in October, I got to see a trailer for Sarey’s movie “The Winemaker” which I now just recently had the privilege of seeing at the Indy Film Festival this year, held at the Kan Kan theater. The latter is such a cool local venue. I need to get there more often and find out more about what sorts of things I can see there.
At this year’s Indy Film Fest, Sarey was the only filmmaker from that particular series of short films who came for a Q&A afterwards. The trailer that I had seen last year had not clued me in that the movie is thoroughly a science fiction one from start to finish. The views of a West Coast winery did not clue me in. But knowing Sarey, whom I first met when we were on a panel together about Star Trek and religion, I probably ought to have guessed.
I won’t give any spoilers, as tempted as I am to discuss the movie, but instead I will encourage you to take advantage of the brief opportunity for a few more days to stream the movie online courtesy of the Indy Film Fest. For those who watch it, let’s talk about it in the comments.
While there were a couple of more abstract and experimental ones that did not hit home for me, there were other movies in the session that were wonderful. The movie “VHS” was a hilarious stop-motion creation (the trailer does not do it justice). “Good Night June” was the most fascinating apart from The Winemaker for someone like me who is interested in religion and dystopia. Set in a future where there has not only been a climate disaster but social and other ones, a woman keeps her husband locked up at night while the radio broadcasts a message about wives’ obedience from the Supreme Teacher.
“Tin Hill No.9” and “Suche Nach” (Looking For) were both subtle and eerie in effective ways. All of the movies in the session left you with more questions than answers, and yet all except the two very abstract ones gave you enough to ponder and meaningfully chew over. “Le Cosmos” was surreal but is not one of the genuinely abstract ones I have been referring to. It too worked really well.
On a more general note, I know that I have found quite a number of shorter and lower budget films that I have seen to be deeply meaningful and rewarding. Is the same true for you? I need to get to film festivals more. I also need to mention that my son Alex McGrath composed the score for the short horror film Carnivora which has been making the film festival rounds. The religious symbolism in that, as in many of the films at the recent Indy Film Fest, make it worthy of academic attention as well as just generally engaging. Have a listen to the end credits music here.
More about The Winemaker here and here.
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