Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am was picked as one of the 10 best documentaries of 2019 by Rolling Stone Magazine.
The article calls the film “a textbook example of how to do a portrait of an artist correctly.”
We were honored to collaborate with director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and editor and producer Johanna Giebelhaus in bringing the story of this important and extraordinary woman to life, even as we grieve her loss earlier this year.
Read the complete story here.
We are eagerly anticipating the theatrical release of Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am on June 21st.
The film, which features our graphics and animation work, is being distributed by Magnolia Pictures and opening in 50 cities across the nation.
Here is the trailer:
Our role as collaborators in the film was cited by the film’s co-producer and editor, Johanna Giebelhaus in this interview published in Filmmaker Magazine.
It was an amazing experience to be a part of telling the story of this extraordinary woman.
When you see the film you will be as in love with Toni Morrison as we are.
We were thrilled and honored to create the visual effects and title design for Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, an engaging and intimate meditation on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prize-winner, which is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019.
Collaborating closely with with director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Producer/Editor Johanna Giebelhaus, we supervised the film’s visual effects and created all of the animated and still graphic elements, a few of which can be seen in this exclusive clip on Deadline.com.
From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to ‘70s-era book tours with Mohammed Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own literature.
Inspired to write because no one took a “little black girl” seriously, Morrison reflects on her lifelong deconstruction of the master narrative. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, the film includes discussions about her many critically acclaimed works, including novels The Bluest Eye, Sula and Song of Solomon, her role as an editor of iconic African-American literature and her time teaching at Princeton University.
In addition to Ms. Morrison, the film features interviews with Hilton Als, Angela Davis, Fran Lebowitz, Walter Mosley, Sonia Sanchez and Oprah Winfrey, who turned Morrison’s novel “Beloved” into a feature film. Using Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ elegant portrait-style interviews, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am includes original music by Kathryn Bostic, a specially created opening sequence by artist Mickalene Thomas, and evocative works by other contemporary African-American artists including Kara Walker, Rashid Johnson and Kerry James Marshall.
We love films, and we love the art of the title, so we jumped at the chance to design and animate the main titles for The Congressman, released in Spring 2016.
The film stars Treat Williams as Maine Congressman Charlie Winship. Fed up with Washington and special interest lobbyists, battered by a media scandal and recovering from divorce, it is only after meeting a group of rugged and self-reliant lobstermen fighting to save their way of life that Charlie reconnects with the idealism that drew him to Congress, while discovering a second chance at personal happiness.
In addition to the main titles, the sequence had to communicate Charlie’s backstory to the audience by incorporating a series of archival photos and clips. Working closely with editor and co-producer Johanna Giebelhaus, our goals were to create a visual sequence recalling classic film titles of the 1960s and 70s with just a hint of a modern feel, and to find an elegant solution within the resources of an independent production.
We’re proud of the final sequence, anchored by a handwritten main title, evocative of both the lawmaker’s signature and the intimacy of the narrative. The tiles reference both the pieces of Charlie’s life, which may be falling apart or coming together, as well as the frame through which the illicit photographer is spying on him. The sequence is rounded out by subtly moving rectangles and credits that frame the historical narrative and set the tone as we move through history to the present day.
We were privileged to be part of this production, with a first-rate performance from Treat Williams, and featuring both gorgeous photography and music by longtime friend Joe Arcidiacono.
The Congressman is now available on Amazon and numerous other streaming services and enjoying theatrical runs throughout the country. You can see the full schedule and list on the film’s website.
It’s an election year and everyone has an opinion about what’s broken in Washington.
The Congressman stars Treat Williams as a frustrated lawmaker who catches a breath of fresh air during an unexpected retreat to a remote island in his district to deal with a fishing dispute.
The film, written and co-directed by former congressman Robert Mrazek, tells a story which evokes Bill Forsyth’s Local Hero, a personal favorite of Declan’s.
We designed and animated the main titles.
The film anchored closing night of the The 18th Annual Sarasota Film Festival, and hits theaters in New York and Washington on April 29, and independent cinemas across the country in the weeks that follow.
Find the complete schedule on the film’s website.
See The Congressman. And vote.
Paul Dalio’s Touched With Fire, which premiered at SXSW last year, opens in theaters this Friday, February 12th. The film has been garnering positive reviews and we can’t wait to catch it!
The Village Voice says “Dalio and his actors stir up what might be the greatest of youthful feelings: that as you get to know someone new, someone whose thinking rhymes with yours, you’re also becoming ever more yourself.” Sounds perfect for Valentine’s Day, huh?
The film stars Katie Holmes, Luke Kirby and Griffin Dunne in a story of two manic depressives who meet in a psychiatric hospital and begin a romance that brings out all of the beauty and horror of their condition. Spike Lee is the Executive Producer.
Our work, which included animated environmental projections based on Van Gogh’s Starry Night, landed Declan Zimmermann a credit as Visual Effect Supervisor on the picture. You can see the projections briefly in the trailer and fully, of course, in the film.