Photo by Kaila Williams
Local filmmaker, Ben Rendich, will debut the proof of concept for his upcoming film, Sweet Confusion, on Thursday, April 4th at the Hudson Milliner Art Salon. All are welcome to attend the screening and director’s talk afterwards. Ben has produced a few short films over the last several years. As he describes it, Sweet Confusion represents a culmination of his youth.
Sweet Confusion is about “seven former high school friends who gather at a charming countryside house to reconnect,” explains Ben. “They’ve just dipped their toes into adulthood, and are now (re)confronting those experiences from adolescence that they thought they left behind. I think this is true for many people. When you go to a reunion, you think you’re grown-up, you think you’re accomplished, you think that you’ve become this new person, but then you meet people who you may have had hard times with when you were eighteen, and those old insecurities come rushing back. It’s really about seven people healing with each other over the course of one day.”
Ben continues, “I think every generation has its crisis and every generation has questions about what the future is going to hold. It’s no secret that the world is a pretty scary place. I want this movie to be an opportunity for people to reflect and recognize that we have the capacity to help ourselves. It’s really as simple as being vulnerable with each other and agreeing to go into the scary parts of ourselves, so that we can be stronger for it.”
The movie, Sweet Confusion, is filmed locally, in the Catskill region. “I love movies that focus on intimate human interactions in calm beautiful settings, like Call Me By Your Name and A Room with a View.” Sweet Confusion has long sweeping landscape shots, inspired by historic local artist Thomas Cole. “What Cole really articulated, as a painter, through landscape, is an American identity that embraced his radiant ideal of the natural world. I would love for this movie to use the landscape and the people in it, as a means of healing and providing solace. “
The short films that Ben has produced up until now are simple portraits of people in everyday situations reevaluating themselves and the world around them. He feels that the various themes used in his previous short films are coming together in Sweet Confusion. “The real focus is the energy of the characters’ interactions. My intention as a filmmaker is to provide a sense of home and to remind ourselves that we are incredibly resilient creatures.”
All are invited to attend the screening of the proof of concept of Sweet Confusion on Thursday, April 4th at the Hudson Milliner Art Salon. Doors open at 7pm, screening at 7:30pm.
