breakSurface

breakSurface

2001 · 41 min · Documentary

When sculptor John Greer and filmmaker Stewart Applegath began shooting, they had no destination, only a desire to journey together in a row boat with camera in hand. Over six years, they rowed a fair distance. breakSurface documents these travels, and the extent to which Greer’s world is leavened with debilitating anxiety. Greer’s powerful sculpture is visually simple, conceptually complex, but silent; he identifies with Jonathan Swift’s "man of objects" who lays out things, not words, to be understood. Applegath, however, doesn’t make this film to replace words, but by embracing them.

Directed by Stewart Applegath

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John Greer Self
Stewart Applegath Self

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breakSurface

The Bride Of Frank

Both from Stewart Applegath.

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The Bride Of Frank

The Bride Of Frank · 1996

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Disturbed and Hideously ugly 'Warehouse Worker' Frank dates then murders women who are not nice to him, he then mutilates and disposes of their corpses, helped out by his friends.

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Escaping History · 1992

Escaping History

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Ostensibly embarking upon a portrait of a "modern-day Abraham Lincoln", Escaping History traces the development of a relationship between the videomaker and his subject. As the story unfolds, it veers from the objective to the highly personal. The tape relates the story of Mel Glasser, a recovering schizophrenic who, having adopted the persona of Abraham Lincoln, has made considerable progress in the last twenty years. The tape refuses to romanticize Mel's condition; he speaks frankly with intelligence and humour, and takes Applegath on a special journey.

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One Goes On · 1990

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One Goes On follows individuals and the events which influence our perceptions of them. A young lawyer indifferently discusses a relationship; a woman discusses a dolphin harvest at a chic party; a rural entrepreneur relates his most recent project as he visits the scene of a local disaster. Certain sequences and stories unfold in real time while others are altered to allow closer scrutiny. As the tape progresses, these connected narratives evoke a strong sense of loss.

Whites of Their Eyes

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Notes on the Sacred

Notes on the Sacred · 1990

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Eyes On the Road · 1988

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Everyman's Home · 1991

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