Directed by Meta Newhouse & Tania Khalaf
University of North Texas, USA
Jill O'Brien and Trish Igo are art students, who collect dead animals found on the side of the road, and then document these animals through still photography. Their goal is not to shock, but rather to "rescue" these animals and document their lives by creating something meaningful and beautiful. The process itself, which is more like performance art, has elaborate rituals such as "hunting" for the animals, naming and photographing them, doing a "take" (which is removing a part of the bodies as a keepsake), adding a "gift", wrapping the bodies and retiring them to their final resting place. This film forces viewers to confront the reality of death - so that the importance of living life more fully is recognized.
Category: Documentary
Run-Time: 13:15
School: University of North Texas, USA
Year of completion: 2005
Original shooting format: miniDV (NTSC)
Screening format: DigiBeta (NTSC)
People/Crew
Featuring Jill O'Brien and Trish Igo
Produced, Directed, Filmed & Edited by Meta Newhouse & Tania Khalaf
Filmmaker Bios
Meta Newhouse
Meta Newhouse began her career as an art director/designer in Dallas, Texas. Over a sixteen year span (the last six of which were spent as Creative Director at GroupBaronet - one of Dallas' top design firms) she has worked for a myriad of clients such as Blockbuster Video, Bennigan's, The Dallas Zoo, The Dallas County Community Colleges, Motorola and the American Heart Association. After having won just about every industry award for creative excellence, she decided to quit the corporate life and go back to school in the Fall of 2004 for a Masters in Fine Arts degree. Currently a student at the University of North Texas, she is majoring in Communication Design and minoring in Film.
Tania Khalaf
Tania Khalaf graduated with a Bachelors of Art degree in Drama from Lebanese University in Bierut, Lebanon. She is currently working on a MFA in Documenary Filmmaking at The University of North Texas. Professionally she has worked as an editor, director of photography and producer in Lebanon before moving to the U.S. to pursue her Masters. She also teaches college Algebra using pictures of monkeys to help explain all the complicated parts (to great success - she has been voted outstanding employee of the year from the UNT Learning Center.) Just recently in the Spring of 2005 her team for the Dallas Video Association's 24-hour race (which involves only one day to make a film to put into competition) was awarded 3rd place. When she is not teaching or making films, you might find her volunteering or practicing her fencing skills.
[Director's Statement]
I grew up in Texas, and Tania, my co-director, grew up in Lebanon, so we each brought a unique point-of-view to the planning, production and editing processes for this film. We loved working together on this film and are now much closer friends because of the experience. I guess we both were so excited about meeting such interesting subjects (Trish Igo and Jill O'Brien) and making a film about them which would hopefully translate their motivations behind the oddness of their photography project - that the entire filmmaking venture felt more like fun than work. We believed these artists were earnestly trying to create works which would cause people to pause and reflect upon the meaning of life. Heady stuff for a short little film. Hopefully, the film reflects those intentions and provokes copious discussions between all who see it.
NextFrame Screening Dates
Aug. 1 - 4, 2006
NEXTFRAME WORLD PREMIERE
Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts
Chapman University
Program(s) screening: All Programs
Orange, CA
Web: www.chapman.edu
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Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006
Indie Memphis Festival
Program(s) screening: Award Winners, Narrative, Documentary, Animation/Experimental
Memphis, TN
Web: www.deltaaxis.org
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Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006
Eastern Washington University
Program(s) screening: Narrative, Documentary
Cheney, WA
Web: www.ewu.edu
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February 22, 2007
University of North Texas
Program(s) screening: Documentary
Denton, TX
Web: www.unt.edu
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March 21 - 22, 2007
University of Northern Iowa
Program(s) screening: Narrative, Documentary
Cedar Falls, IA
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March 30, 2007
Coolidge Corner Theater
New England Institute of Art
Program(s) screening: Narrative, Documentary, Animation/Experimental
Brookline, MA
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April 19, 2007
Griffith Film School
South Brisbane
Program(s) screening: Narrative, Documentary, Animation/Experimental
Queensland, Australia
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April/May 2007
University of Tennessee
School of Art
Program(s) screening: Narrative, Documentary, Animation/Experimental
Knoxville, TN
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March/April 2007
Open Student Television Network
Program(s) screening: Documentary, Animation/Experimental
Campuses across the U.S.
For more info: https://ostn.tv/
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Sept 14 - 15, 2007
University of Toledo
Lab Theatre, Center for Performing Arts
Program(s) screening: Documentary, Animation/Experimental
Toledo, OH
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