'How Now, House?' Sets Italian Premiere
American-born, Rotterdam-based animator Tess Martin's latest film continues its roll-out to festivals across the world. How Now, House? will have its Italian festival premiere at the ShorTS International Film Festival in Trieste. Featuring in the festival's Maremetraggio Program #2, it will screen as part of an exciting line-up of innovative films that push the boundaries of storytelling and artistic expression.
How Now, House is a 13-minute film that explores time, memory and the impermanence of home through a deeply personal lens. The film was inspired by her experience of leaving a home in which she had lived for a decade- her longest period of residence anywhere- and reflects on the global housing crisis and our collective sense of precarity.
Using time-lapse photography, rotoscoping, photo replacement, repetitive actions and the symbolic replacement of playing cards, the film represents several time periods at once, questioning whether a space can ever truly belong to one person or moment. The playing cards represent time- sequential but devoid of intrinsic meaning- shuffling through past and present as if in a never-ending game. A multi-language voice over, blending real-life documentation and philosophical reflections on time invites viewers to consider the imprints we leave on spaces and the fleeting nature of permanence.
“I wanted to explore how our time in a shared space connects us to the past and to those who came before us,” said Tess Martin. In producing the films, Martin extensively researched the real-life building's history and past inhabitants, applying techniques she applied as an amateur genealogist. Records in the Rotterdam City Archive led her to previous owners and inhabitants whose stories she was able to incorporate.
