ASHLEY ELAINE YORK @ SUNDANCE 2011
Edmontonian Trevor Anderson is excited that his short, HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE, is one of eighty-one shorts playing at Sundance 2011. He should be since over 6400 competed for the privilege.
But, as Trevor tells it, he's even prouder of the fact this his film is one of the twelve past and present Sundance shorts selected for the “Screening Room,” a joint project between the Sundance Film Institute and YouTube, which offers these films free to the public as part of the kickoff of Sundance 2011.
What he has accomplished really struck him when he saw that his short got 50,000 hits on the opening day of the Festival: ”as many people as the population of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada,” he said, “where I grew up. When I realized [that], it made the moment quite real for me.”
I interviewed Trevor two hours before his short premiered at Holiday Village Cinema IV in Park City and was impressed by how calm he appeared: excited about the possibilities attached to the accolades he has earned, undoubtedly, but far more invested in the “process” that got him to this place.
His relationship with Sundance started when Kim Yutani, a Sundance programmer, saw his earlier shorts which played at Outfest (The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival). HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE is Trevor's ninth short film to date. He submitted some of those to Sundance over the years; however, it was only after his current film was accepted that Yutani told him his earlier films were close, in terms of getting into prior Sundance Festivals, as well.
Trevor has also worked closely with Todd Luoto, another Sundance programmer, who saw HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE take honorable mention at last year's AFI Film Festival. “When Todd saw me get the award, I was hopeful that I would finally get into Sundance." Indeed, it wasn’t long after that when Anderson found out that his film set in Edmonton, Canada would play at one of the preeminent film festival in the world.
When Robert Redford addressed Anderson and his colleagues at the annual Filmmakers’ Luncheon earlier in the week, he said: “You are now Sundance filmmakers, so we’re going to follow you. We’re going to be emailing you. You can’t get away from us, so just get used to it." Reflecting back on this, Trevor said, “That moment seemed unreal to me. That I would be sitting twenty feet away from Redford when he said that to me is amazing."
Towards the end of the interview, I asked the young filmmaker, “Why this film? And, why now?” To which he answered, “The whole reason I do my films is to explore topics that are on my mind—to try to understand things better. It’s a method of inquiry for me. That’s how I chose my topics. And this topic was on my mind.”
Specifically, Trevor started off making this film because he wanted to win the $15,000 award that came with placing first in the the short film competition funded by the Talent Lab of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). “Boy, I needed that money,” he quipped. But, even so, the subject of the film was never in doubt.
The subject had to be about Edmonton's High Level Bridge because two of his friends had jumped off that bridge the year before. And, since that is what was on his mind at the time, that was the subject of his film.
TIFF gave every contestant an inexpensive camera with which to shoot their films--a $100 variety used frequently by teenagers who want to upload photos and video to their blogs. Trevor remarked that it wouldn't have been such a loss if he had to sacrifice the camera to get the 'money shot' that would pay adequate tribute to his lost friends, and also relay what they saw when they took their final steps.
So, Anderson threw the camera off the bridge. He figured he could at least retrieve the memory card, and get "the shot." But, because Edmonton had just had a fresh snowfall, the lightly packed snow on the water broke the fall of the camera and left it undamaged--and, moreover, still recording when Trevor retrieved it moments later.
He got the shot he was searching for: the view of his friends in absentia. For some time to follow, it was difficult for Anderson to cross that bridge. For, walking across it, “you’re thinking about how easy it would be to jump," he said. "You have time to contemplate just how easy it would be to step over that railing” and end it all.
It therefore comes as no surprise that spectators of the film from all walks of life, from within Edmonton and from without, have similarly been moved to reflect on their own losses after seeing it.
Trevor told me, “People have been opening up to me with their own stories of people they [have] lost to suicide, which is very healthy. Because one of the things I want to do with [my] film is to contribute to an effort to remove the stigma around...mental health and suicide.” He further shared that, “One of the most heartbreaking things about those I lost was no one had any idea they were thinking of killing themselves until after they were gone.” Anderson, therefore, believes, if mental health issue were less of a taboo, maybe his friends would still be alive today.
Local spectators of HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE have also shared stories of their personal relationship with the Bridge. “They say, 'My short puts words to something they have felt or thought.' [Furthermore,] they tell me [their own] stories of walking across that bridge; what they think about when they cross it; the stories [of people] they know who have jumped off it; and even little architectural stories about the [construction of the] bridge.” One man remarked that his father worked on building the bridge; and another said his depressed roommate once slept walked, and awakened to find herself standing on its' ledge.
Trevor, a musician as well as a filmmaker, is interested in the cacophony of these combined anecdotes; and moreover how they bump up against one another, one as different, yet as similar, as the next.
"I want people to relate my film to their own lives in whatever way they see fit," he said. “It reminds me of when people come and put their little tributes, flowers, stuffed animals, and cards [where they lost a friend]. It almost feels like that because [these people are] bringing me their little stories, and setting them down near me. [They] are collaging my film by [adding] their own stories to my own. And I feel quite honored to be at the center of [that].”
It’s understandable that after such an emotional filmmaking experience, Anderson is changing gears entirely with his next project. Soon he will commence production on a twenty-minute musical documentary, a true-life story of his great uncle Jimmy in six consecutive acts. Reflecting on his great uncle, Anderson said, “Jimmy had an amazing life. And my family almost forgot to tell me about him!” It goes without saying that they share a love of music, and of loss, in common.
Bryce Kulak, also from Edmonton, is composing the film. “Whereas HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE was minimal, my next film will be maximal. I’m planning for 50 dancers, rehearsals for 3 weeks, a studio orchestra, costumes made of sequins and feathers, and a full studio orchestra. I'm going in the opposite direction aesthetically, but I'm still telling 'the truth' of a real story. Trying to approach it from an angle the audience might not expect at first. Because Uncle Jimmy had a hard life. So, I hope I can treat it respectfully, yet with a light heart.”
Anyone who knows Trevor has no doubt he'll succeed in his quest.
