Salute Your Shorts 2019 – Girl in the Hallway
A man who bore witness to the circumstances surrounding a child's disappearance struggles with the weight of his silence and inaction.
Interview with Director/Animator Valerie Barnhart
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Jamie DeWolf is an award-winning poet and writer. I came across his performance on YouTube. With what came into my mind's eye I knew this story had to be made into a movie. I contacted Jamie and got his blessing. As production went forward and I did everything I could to find out all the details I could about Xiana Fairchild and this particular serial killer Curtice Dean Anderson. Once I found out Xiana is Indigenous- this located the story in a completely different context. I believe silence and inaction is a major factor in how this particular genocide is on-going. This makes telling this particular story especially important. I was simply not in a position to be silent. Storytelling is medicine. Our communities need these stories.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Evil is truly banal. It all starts when we are silent and inactive. And in that inaction, as an action becomes a violent act. We have this disconnect with each other and our communities. I don't blame Jamie in his actions around this tragedy. And that's the problem. I think my audience needs to be confronted with this question. How are you silent within your own life?
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Grief, loss, community, a sense of responsibility to our fellow humans are universal themes in their own respect. All themes I played with when I was creating a psychological space for Jamie's testimony. It's all basic root emotions. Which is necessary when animating someone's worst nightmare.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The written script was locked down and didn't change.
My storyboards were a completely different matter. Those shifted and changed as I went through production. I was scared of post-production- So I worked completely to avoid that stage. (It worked! HA post was only 10 days). I started with the whole narrative boarded out. I animated this chronologically and in one-take with no composites. As I would break down every phrasing, I had this general direction I wanted to take with the original board, But that was thrown out 90% of the time. As I mastered the technique (I was teaching myself to animate as I went) and my drawing skills improved I was able to work differently as the years progressed. I would spend weeks meditating on each 10-30 second phrasing and think of the perfect way to show that visually given my limitations of $760 USD budget. My technique would dictate the stylization of my visuals. That's why in the end I would constantly change style and technique throughout the film. I love chimerical things. And nightmares shift as you experience them. The entire process meant I had to destroy every frame as I created it. So after destroying everything I made for the past three years, my art is no longer precious to me. It became easy to throw out a board if it didn't serve the story. I became ruthless in that respect.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
People either love or hate Jamie's performance. I personally like how emotional he gets. I like how you can hear him lose it. Some people didn't like that. oh well.
I used a recording of the first live performance. So it is in its most unpolished state. As a documentarian, I feel like this adds to its authenticity. The low-fi nature of my project works with a low-fi live recording. Some people don't like this. oh well. we disagree creatively.
Otherwise, people have engaged and connected to it on a very visceral level. The emotional outpouring from my audience has been overwhelming for me. The interaction with my audience during the end credits floors me every time. The conversations I've opened up shown me that I've changed some audience members. and in here lies the power of documentary. I hopefully made the world a better place. I've given out a lot of hugs to crying audience members in the lobby.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Storytelling is medicine. We as a society need this story.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I need more eyes on this project. The more visibility is necessary. Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls need more visibility in the media.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I directly ask my audience "what would you do?" and whatever someone answers in their heart- knows if it's right or wrong. Perhaps if we are more honest with ourselves we will make different choices when confronted with something so horribly wrong when we witness something wrong happen in-front of us.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What would you do?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I'm in development for an animated horror-comedy.
Interview: August 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Girl in the Hallway
A man who bore witness to the circumstances surrounding a child's disappearance struggles with the weight of his silence and inaction.
Length: 10:30
Director: Valerie Barnhart
Producer: Valerie Barnhart
Writer: Jamie DeWolf
About the writer, director and producer:
VALERIE BARNHART is an independent animator and visual artist based out of Ottawa, Canada. Her interdisciplinary practice is exploratory in nature but revolves specifically around the dynamics of silence and inaction as a form of violence. Valerie earned her BFA from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design as a Visual Arts Major: with a studio specialty in Printmaking, Drawing, and an academic emphasis in Decolonization Politics and Non-Western Art. Her art practice made a massive shift into documentary and animation entirely by accident. Valerie taught herself how to animate during this production. Valerie has exhibited in Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary. She lives with her husband and a motley crew of animal amongst piles of dusty books.
JAMIE DEWOLF first exploded into national prominence in the competitive lyrical battles of poetry slams, winning his first title on the Oakland Slam team in 1999. DeWolf went on to become the Oakland and Berkeley Grand Slam Champion, and is also an Individual finalist for the International World Championship. He’s been awarded “Performer of the Year” by NPR’s Snap Judgment and was a featured performer on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, 60 Minutes, UPN, BBC, Vice, NBC and CBS. DeWolf premiered multiple stories on Snap Judgment Live, and yhg (about the disappearance of his neighbour Xiana Fairchild) and Exit Interview (a story of surviving suicide), were both showcased by UpWorthy the year of their premieres. Voted “Best Poet” of the Bay Area by the East Bay Express two years in a row, Jamie is also a mentor for Youth Speaks, the nation’s leading presenter of Spoken Word education. He coached their slam team of young poets to the Brave New Voices Finals on HBO. He’s performed and lead writing workshops at over 130 universities, high schools and juvenile detention centres across the U.S, and hosted the first-ever slam poetry competition for inmates at San Quentin Penitentiary.
Key cast: Jamie DeWolf, witness testimony
Looking for: journalists, film festival directors
Instagram: @girlinthehallwaymovie
Hashtags used: #MMIW, #MMIWG2S
Website: www.girlinthehallwaymovie.com
Made in association with:Funders: self funded