Rob Tregenza

Fast

For Sterling, a sort of present-day Alice, the graveyard Lotus she redeems becomes a totem, a saturated phenomenon permitting her to move freely in time on a phantom road. It is a sort of Ford but never a DeLorean. A Southern woman with a fair deal of historical baggage and deep secrets, Sterling journeys back to her rural home, the Lotus takes her through the shadow of the valley into the adjoining worlds of the living and the dead. Desiring to become an F1 driver, Sterling must go fast/hard, against/through all tunnels imagined or concrete.

Werckmeister Harmonies

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.

Gavagai

German businessman Carsten Neuer travels to Norway to finish the impossible translation of some Norwegian poems by Tarjei Vesaas into Chinese, a project of his late wife. He hires Niko, a down-on-his-luck tour guide, to drive him to the poet's home and places of inspiration to stimulate his own translation. On the road, the ghost of Carsten's wife appears to him, while Niko struggles with the sudden consequences of his girlfriend's pregnancy. On this journey, two very different men come to realize the transforming power of love, the limits of language, and the human need for friendship.

Three Businessmen

An American art dealer (Miguel Sandoval), who specializes in southwestern topaz, arrives by train in Liverpool. Similarly, a very proper British art dealer (Alex Cox), who specializes in African art, arrives in the same hotel. The two meet in the hotel's abandoned restaurant and decide to set off in finding an evening meal, which becomes problematic immediately when the Brit reveals he is vegetarian. While following their pursuit of a mutually acceptable meal, the main point of the film is their discourse en route to their various attempts at an eatery.

The Arc

Tregenza’s second feature takes the form of a highly metaphorical road movie, as the isolated protagonist (Jason Adams) drifts from gainful employment in the East (as an arc welder in Baltimore) to a spiritual apotheosis in the West. “The formal treatment of the material ranges from rapid montage (in the opening sequence) to more conventional editing to lengthy takes without any apparent consistent pattern. Tregenza remains a master cinematographer throughout, and the various ellipses between sequences are often as provocative as the sequences themselves” (Jonathan Rosenbaum).

The Fishing Place

A World War 2 drama that follows Anna who is captured by the Nazis and is released from captivity in exchange for taking on a mission: She will work for a German priest, to find out if he is involved in the Norwegian resistance movement.

Talking to Strangers

It consists of only nine ten minute segments. Each shot/sequence was filmed only once in 35mm film with direct sound. The complexity and ground breaking originality of these shots has obtained widespread international acclaim.

The Sad and Lonely Death of Edgar Allan Poe

A creative interpretation of Poe’s internal demons in time and in space, then and now.

Fast

For Sterling, a sort of present-day Alice, the graveyard Lotus she redeems becomes a totem, a saturated phenomenon permitting her to move freely in time on a phantom road. It is a sort of Ford but never a DeLorean. A Southern woman with a fair deal of historical baggage and deep secrets, Sterling journeys back to her rural home, the Lotus takes her through the shadow of the valley into the adjoining worlds of the living and the dead. Desiring to become an F1 driver, Sterling must go fast/hard, against/through all tunnels imagined or concrete.

Werckmeister Harmonies

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.

Gavagai

German businessman Carsten Neuer travels to Norway to finish the impossible translation of some Norwegian poems by Tarjei Vesaas into Chinese, a project of his late wife. He hires Niko, a down-on-his-luck tour guide, to drive him to the poet's home and places of inspiration to stimulate his own translation. On the road, the ghost of Carsten's wife appears to him, while Niko struggles with the sudden consequences of his girlfriend's pregnancy. On this journey, two very different men come to realize the transforming power of love, the limits of language, and the human need for friendship.

Three Businessmen

An American art dealer (Miguel Sandoval), who specializes in southwestern topaz, arrives by train in Liverpool. Similarly, a very proper British art dealer (Alex Cox), who specializes in African art, arrives in the same hotel. The two meet in the hotel's abandoned restaurant and decide to set off in finding an evening meal, which becomes problematic immediately when the Brit reveals he is vegetarian. While following their pursuit of a mutually acceptable meal, the main point of the film is their discourse en route to their various attempts at an eatery.

The Arc

Tregenza’s second feature takes the form of a highly metaphorical road movie, as the isolated protagonist (Jason Adams) drifts from gainful employment in the East (as an arc welder in Baltimore) to a spiritual apotheosis in the West. “The formal treatment of the material ranges from rapid montage (in the opening sequence) to more conventional editing to lengthy takes without any apparent consistent pattern. Tregenza remains a master cinematographer throughout, and the various ellipses between sequences are often as provocative as the sequences themselves” (Jonathan Rosenbaum).

The Fishing Place

A World War 2 drama that follows Anna who is captured by the Nazis and is released from captivity in exchange for taking on a mission: She will work for a German priest, to find out if he is involved in the Norwegian resistance movement.

Talking to Strangers

It consists of only nine ten minute segments. Each shot/sequence was filmed only once in 35mm film with direct sound. The complexity and ground breaking originality of these shots has obtained widespread international acclaim.

The Sad and Lonely Death of Edgar Allan Poe

A creative interpretation of Poe’s internal demons in time and in space, then and now.