Arivaca Film Expo & Call For Submissions

The 2nd annual Arivaca Independent Filmmaker's Exposition will be held on Saturday March 24th at the Community Center in Arivaca, Arizona. The event will be sponsored in part by Barton Santello & Psychotropic Films, with the purpose to bring independent films to a rural audience and at the same time provide Arizona filmmaker's an outlet to show their creative and documentary work.

Format for this film exposition will be to show documentaries and feature films, animations and documentaries during the day and short experimental films during the evening program. Documentaries selected will discuss or portray local (Southwest US, Mexico & Central American events and issues.

If you are an Arizona filmmaker, multi-media artist, actor in film, or knows someone who has a film that can be submitted, contact Barton Santello at 480-620-5386, or mail your entry
to P.O. Box 778, Arivaca, AZ 85601.

Note(s): 1) This is not a 'judged' film event.
2) There are no entry fees.
3) Formats for screening (DVD, Video CD, VHS, Mini-DV Tape)

See link for further information: http://www.arivaca.net/filmfest.htm

Updates will be posted to: www.arivaca.net
as planning for event continues

Video Postcard - Arivaca Folklorico

Psychotropic Flims announces the release of "Arivaca Folklorico" a Barton Santello picture. Using only a Nikon Coolpix digital camera, this 4-minute 'video postcard' captures the essence of rural Arivaca, a rural Arizona community, in the mountains at the international border with Mexico.

You can watch 'Arivaca Folklorico' by clicking on the link below - Don't forget to turn up the volume on your computer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmuHTEWrfJI

Note: If the video is slighly choppy during playback, click button below and right of the screen to reduce its size.

Filming in Africa

For the past two months I have been traveling in Africa (South Africa, Rwanda and Uganda). Although the trip was primarily undertaken for wildlife viewing, I brought my film and sound recording equipment and captured what I could along the way.

I want to create a film based on my travels that conveys my experience in Africa by extracting artistic elements of footage taken on the journey. I possibly want to present contrasts between what I actually saw in Africa, compared to my perceptions, myths and history of that continent. I'm also considering the juxapositions of: people/nature; peace/violence; and colonialism/ indigeneous cultures.

As typical with a majority of my work, I film what I feel is artistically, emotionally and aestetically important and then later in post-production, create a film bringing together elements of imagery and sound to create a story.

I also recorded sounds while in Africa. I probably have enough material for two CD's. One on nature sounds and the other compilation will just be the sounds of Africa.

Barton Santello
Arivaca, Arizona
Nov 1, 2006

"Dark Ages" in pre-production

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Psychotropic Films announces the pre-production of "Dark Ages" (working title) a new film by filmmaker Barton Santello. This movie will be shot in Arivaca, Arizona and will star actors Kent Sorensen and Diane DePaul. The length of this film has not been established, but it is estimated at 30 minutes. The plot for this film is shrouded in mystery; and scenes photographed will be the most complex yet attempted by Psychotropic Films.

A 30-second film "teaser"can be viewed by clicking on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRJr1nVcZMU

Stay tuned to Psychotropic Films for innovative "psycho-active" filmmaking

Arivaca Independent Filmmaker's Exposition

The Arivaca Independent Filmmaker's Exposition was held on Saturday April 29th at the Community Center in Arivaca, Arizona. The event was well-attended with 19-films shown over a 10-hour period. Barton Santello & Psychotropic Films sponsored the event with the purpose to bring independent films to a rural audience and provide Arizona filmmaker's an outlet to show their work.

The format of the Exposition was to show documentaries primarily of local issues during the day and short experimental films during the evening program.

For additional details with listings and descriptions of the films shown, please click on the link above.

"Outskirts" Premier's at the Arizona International Film Festival

Psychotropic Film's "The Outskirts of Infinity" Premiered at the Arizona International Film Festival on April 26th at The Screening Room in Tucson, Arizona. Other short films created by Arizona filmmakers were also screened that night.

Director Barton Santello said of the showing: "Outskirts looked great projected on the big screen and the film stood out as a unique work that was well-received by the audience"

Strange Attractor selected for Back Alley Film Fest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Psychotropic Films is pleased to announce that its production
"Strange Attractor" has been selected in the 8th annual Back Alley
Film Festival (www.backalleyfilmfestival.com)

And will be shown at the festival in Tucson, Arizona on May 27th, 2006.
The Back Alley Cinema is located behind Bison Witches Bar & Deli 326 N. 4th Ave. in Tucson, Arizona 85705-8441

For additional postings on Strange Attractor click here: Archived Blog

Outskirts of Infinity - Live on Internet

For your viewing convenience, The Outskirts of Infinity can now be viewed at www.undergroundfilm.org

The direct link is:
http://www.undergroundfilm.org/films/detail.tcl?wid=1023623

Thank you,

Barton Santello - Filmmaker

Press Release: "Day Residue" Completed

For Immediate Release:

Filmmaker Barton Santello announces the completion of an new film short "Day Residue" featuring an exciting soundscape by ambient/electronic musician Richard Bone. The film is summarized as the filmmaker's perceptions of life in Aricaca, Arizona, as told through the day residue (analog) images and computer (digital) graphics.

The film will be debuted at the Arivaca Independent Filmmakers Exhibition in Arivaca, Arizona on April 29th. For more information, contact the filmmaker at info@psychotropicfilms.com.

Arizona International Film Festival

For Immediate Release:

Filmmaker Barton Santello is proud to announce that his 2006 film: "The Outskirts of Infinity" has been selected for screening at this year's Arizona International Film Festival in Tucson.

The film is summarized as follows:

This work expresses the filmmaker’s artistic vision of visual opportunities present in an Arizona ghost town. Images of the ghost town; archival footage; the secret life of the sole caretaker and the flight of migratory bats, are inexplicably woven into a mysterious tapestry of storied images unbounded by a sense of time.

"I orignally went to the ghost town of Ruby, Arizona to film migratory bats that reside in an abandoned mine shaft and possibly make a wildlife documentary. However, after spending several weeks in the town, time getting to know the caretaker and filming old ruins, I knew the film was going to become something bigger. As typical with my productions, I filmed first and put the movie together later. I trusted the present moment experiences I had on film and used several 'psycho-active' soundscapes from 'A Produce'. The finished production more than exceeded my expectations for the 'form' of film I want to create" - Barton Santello

Additonal details on "Outskirts" and its showing at the Arizona International Film Festival will be forthcoming.

A Film New Called "Day Residue"

My head was all stressed out over nothing; but it was just pent-up mental energy required to tie up some loose ends incubating a new film. A visual outline of some creative seeds I planted, became known – and I saw the link to some other mindful moments I filmed over the past 6-months.

The result will be a film unveiled as series of present-moment experiences, inter-woven into a dreamlike visual tapestry. I’m going to call it “Day Residue”, because that’s exactly what it is and consistent with my 'form' for film.

Richard Bone will be providing the soundscape; and as demonstrated in "Strange Attractor" and "Flow", promises to be another exceptional union of sound and visual imagery.

Now I know I’m on the right track. What a relief: This is one film I don’t want to let stand idle and begin to decay. This concept is essentially the day residue of what it is like to live inside the ‘dream’ of being in Arivaca. From this point forward, until it’s completed, I’m just going with that.

Barton Santello
Arivaca, AZ

Outskirts: Richard Bone Weighs In

I just finished viewing "The Outskirts of Infinity" and it's truly a haunting work. The feelings that constantly swept over me while watching it were of being trapped in a twilight state between existence and non existence. It wasn't until I saw on the closing credits where Sundog is listed as "the man between two worlds" that I realized how clearly you conveyed this feeling. It's surreal of course but it's more than that. As if I were glimpsing the dream that shadows have when they sleep!

Two images especially haunted me. First the ballerina dancing as the scene crossfades onto an old piano and secondly, the closing shot where Sundog descends to...where? Back to a waking state, perhaps?

I loved it and Barry's music (A Produce) is perfection, chilling. Your work continues to evolve and become more sophisticated, if that's the right word. Perhaps your cinematic vision is becoming more clearly defined would be more accurate. In any cause, I was captivated and genuinely unsettled by the piece.
Especially considering that last night I had experienced a most disturbing nightmare. "Outskirts" brought those emotions back to the surface!

Can't wait to see what you do next....Just hope I'm part of it.

Regards, Richard Bone
www.richardbone.com

Outskirts of Infinity Completed

My latest film: "The Outskirts of Infinity" was completed the first week of January 2006.

Running over 20 minutes in length, there was plenty of time to incorporate repeating themes and develop a structure with regards to symbolism on the human condition. The ghost town, the bats, and the caretaker are all 'elements' woven into a story (yes, there is a story here). This is not a film where I wanted to promote a specific message. Instead, this film allows me to learn more about the psycho-dynamics of the viewer, based on their perceptions and feelings derived from the viewing. This is a good picture where several viewings over time will reveal more and more complexity. The depth of which, is how far the viewer wants to go.

There are several parallels (motifs) with images from "Man Trap" (discovered after 'Outskirts' was completed).

The visual-sonic architecture of 'Outskirts' was totally unconscious. As with all my films, I shot scenes that moved me artistically; weaved them into the music-score for the maximum psycho-dynamic effects; then combined components to create psycho-active flow of information and ideas. Isn't wasn't until I burned the DVD and watched the whole film from beginning-to-end, did I discover that the film was exactly what I wanted to accomplish. This chain of events was really similiar in the production of "Strange Attractor" (nothing what I expected, but exactly what I wanted). Maybe that could be said about all my films. What's freaking-me-out is that it is a process beyond my control. It is a challenge not to interfere with this unconscious creative construction - because it means I must trust a process that can't be readily observed. I guess what keeps me from interfering consciously, is that I'm never sure where I'm going with a project. It is easier for me to get out of the way and let it take on a life of its own.

The current release is v2.0. However, I still have some 'tweaks' to the aesthetic of the film and corrections to the credits. However, the structure of the film is complete and I am very satisfied with it.

Barton Santello
Arivaca, AZ