‘Dear Rosa’ is part of an ongoing project about our relationship to time and the past. By means of historical research, interviews and personal footage, this project seeks to explore the invisibility of women through the story of one ancestor from the Liguria region of Italy. This installation reflects on, and refracts, the link of this place to three time periods, and to three women in one family.

This piece involves an audio track on headphones and the experience takes about 10 minutes. A try-out exhibition was presented Jan 26-27, 2024 at Het Wilde Weten in Rotterdam, culminating my three month long artist residency there.

I look forward to the opportunity to develop this project further at another venue and remain open to suggestions.

This research was supported by the Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst. Photos by Tess Martin and edited with help of Sander van Wettum.

'How Now, House?' exists as a 13 minute single-channel short film and as site-specific installations. It was formally known as ‘Four Bedroom Shared House’.

How Now, House? investigates our yearning to leave traces behind through the prism of one house in Rotterdam. Using archives, personal memories and the philosophy of time, the film questions whether a space can ever really belong to one person, or time period, at all.

Photos below are stills from the short film and documentation from two installation presentations, at Het Wilde Weten in November 2023 and at FilmDak, TOT Project, Oranjeboomstudios, in September 2024.

CREDITS for the short film:

A film by Tess Martin

Performer: Bianca Casaburi

Music & Sound Design: Ruben van Asselt

Cinematography: Matija Pekić

Color Grading: Gideon van der Stelt

Title design: Alice Saey

Post animator: Arnaud van Vliet

Movement consultant: Marijke de Vos

Script consultant: Lenina Ungari

Dutch language consultant: Rhea Bogaart

Vinyl song:  Danza della Tarantella by Bonjour Bonjour

Voices by: Nadine Ghandour, Tess Martin, Matteo Pasquini, Giorgia Vendetti, Riccardo Santalucia, Endrie Setijasih, Marvin Dee, Pablo Bravo Chaves, Petru Codreanu, Annique Marthanna Nahumury, Sofie Wentholt, Esther Muñoz Grootveld, Mathieu Wijdeven

Many thanks to theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli, whose words form the basis of the dialogue of the Scientist.

Many thanks to all my housemates.

This film was made possible by the Netherlands Film Fund and CBK Rotterdam and was also supported by Het Wilde Weten and the Rotterdam City Archive.

Find the press kit pdf here.

Experimental documentary short film, 11 minutes.

A new father visits the hometown of his mother in 1976, accompanied by his wife and baby. At the same time, the NASA Viking lander is sending the first images back to Earth from the surface of another planet. Using the father’s travel journal as a guide, and re-contextualizing archival footage and photographs, this film explores our yearning to bridge the gap: the gap between parents and children, between points in space and between the present and the past.

CREDITS:

A film by Tess Martin
Mars cinematography and audio-visual post-production by Matija Pekić
Animation assistant Marike Verbiest
Title design by Alice Saey

Travel journal written by Stephen Martin, read by Tess Martin, used by permission
8mm footage shot by Stephen Martin and Linda Medica Martin, used by permission

This project contains copyright-free archival video and audio from NASA and Creative Commons-licensed sounds from freesound.org

Filmed in Midlothian & Aberdeenshire, Scotland and Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Special thanks to:
Eunice Stephen, Charles West, Bill Masson
all the residents of Cairnbulg and Inverallochy, Aberdeenshire
the Hawthornden Literary Retreat, Midlothian
Stephen Martin, Linda Medica Martin, Beth Martin Quittman and Christina Stephen Martin

This film was supported by the Netherlands Film Fund and the City of Rotterdam

Science New Wave Film Festival, New York, USA, Oct 18-25, 2024
RPM Festival, Boston, MA, USA, Sept 26-Oct 26
Proyector Moving Image Festival, Madrid, Spain, Sept 11-22, 2024
Aricadoc International Documentary Film Festival, Arica, Chile, Aug 30-Sept 8, 2024
Snake Alley Festival of Film, Burlington, Iowa, USA, July 11-14, 2024
Kino Otok Isola Cinema, Izola, Slovenia, June 5-9, 2024
ONED Film Festival, Beijing, China, special screening with Traverse Video, June 10, 2024
Animafest Zagreb, World Panorama, Croatia, June 3-8, 2024
Experiments in Cinema, Albuquerque, NM, USA, April 23-27, 2024
Athens International Film and Video Festival, Athens, Ohio, USA, April 8-15, 2024
AmDocs Film Festival, Palm Springs, CA, USA, March 21-25, 2024
Rencontres Internationales Traverse, experimental art festival, Toulouse, France, March 13-17, 2024 (installed in the Chapelle des Carmelites, March 13-31, 2024)
InScience International Science Film Festival, Nijmegen, Netherlands, March 12-17, 2024
International Short Film Week Regensburg, Germany, March 7-17, 2024
Festival Premiere: DOK Leipzig, International Competition Animated Film, Oct 2023

Installation with 11 minute soundtrack on headphones and 8 minute looping video.

Exhibition text:

A science-fiction fan visits the hometown of his mother in 1976, accompanied by his wife and new baby. At the same time, the NASA Viking lander is sending the first images back to Earth from the surface of another planet. Using the father’s travel journal as a guide, and re-contextualizing archival footage and photographs, this installation explores our yearning to bridge the gap: the gap between parents and children, between points in space and between the present and the past.

Tess Martin
1976: Search for Life (2022)
HD video in custom TV cabinet, 8’, papier mache rocks and rock stools, audio on headphones, 11’

TV cabinet constructed by Maurik Stomps; voice-over text written by Stephen Martin, read by Tess Martin, used by permission. This project contains copyright-free archival footage and audio from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This project has been supported by Stichting Droom en Daad and Stimuleringsfonds Creative Industrie.

A work-in-progress version of this installation was funded by Stichting Droom en Daad and the Stimuleringsfonds. The final version was presented at Workshop Gallery in Rotterdam in September 2022 and at the Murf/Murw Art and Performance Festival, Tilburg, the Netherlands in September 2024.

The final image is ‘1976: Touchdown’ a version of the installation made for De Aanschouw, a long-running art display in Rotterdam. It features two superimposed photographs, a Mars set and a model 1976 Morris Marina car. It was shown in January 2024.

Click here for an English language press kit, and here for a Dutch language press kit.

Still Life with Woman, Tea and Letter, 2022, 2’14’’ (replacement animation & pixilation).

A photograph is a window into the past, but sometimes, the border between past and present is not entirely clear. This stop-motion animation invites us to think about our relationship to time, by portraying one woman caught in the middle.

Original title & synopsis (Dutch): Stilleven met vrouw, thee en brief

Een foto is een blik in het verleden, maar soms is de grens tussen heden en verleden niet helemaal duidelijk. Deze stop-motion animatie nodigt ons uit om na te denken over onze relatie tot tijd, door een vrouw te portretteren die in het midden gevangen zit.

This Ultrakort film premiered in fall 2022 at the Nederlands Film Festival and was screened in Art House Cinemas in the Netherlands (NFO) in January and February 2023.

Additional screenings:

aCinema Summer Screening Series, Milwaukee, WI, USA, July 19-21, 2024
Tabor Film Festival, Veliki Tabor Castle, Croatia, July 6-7, 2024
Wide Open Experimental Film Festival, Oklahoma City, OK, USA, April 26, 2024
Minimalen Short Film Festival, Trondheim, Norway, Jan 23-28, 2024 (Honorable Mention)
Alternative Film Video Festival, Belgrade, Serbia, Dec 6-9, 2023
Interface Video Art Festival, Zagreb, Croatia, Dec 5-10, 2023
Tindirindis International Animation Film Festival, Vilnius, Lithuania, Nov 30-Dec 3, 2023
Animateka International Animated Film Festival (Best of the World program), Ljubljana, Slovenia, Nov 27-Dec 3, 2023
Canberra Short Film Festival, Canberra, Australia, Nov 14-26, 2023
Future Film Festival, Bologna, Italy, Nov 15-19, 2023
Amarcort Film Festival, Rimini, Italy, Nov 14-19, 2023
accordi @ DISACCORDI International Short Film Festival, Naples, Italy, Nov 13, 2023
Feinaki Animation Week, Beijing, China (Panorama), Nov 10, 2023
Museumnacht, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Nov 4, 2023
Uppsala Short Film Festival, Sweden, 23-29 Oct, 2023
Primanima World Festival of First Animations (Silhouettes program), Budaors, Hungary, Oct 11-14, 2023
WNDX Festival of Moving Image, Winnipeg, Canada, Oct 4-8, 2023
Stoptrik International Film Festival, Maribor, Slovenia, Sept 27-Oct 1
Revolutions Per Minute Festival, UMass Boston, USA, Sept 5-Oct 28, 2023
Malatesta Short Film Festival, Cesena, Italy, Sept 1-4, 2023
Animation Block Party, Brooklyn, NY, USA, Aug 18-20, 2023
Animaphix Film Festival, Bagheria, Italy, July 25-30, 2023
Snake Alley Festival of Film, Burlington, IA, USA, July 13-16, 2023
Walla Walla Movie Crush, Walla Walla, WA, USA, July 7-9, 2023
Shorts International Film Festival, Trieste, Italy, July 1-8, 2023
Asolo Art Film Festival, Italy, June 14-18, 2023
Isola Cinema International Film Festival, Isola, Slovenia, June 7-11, 2023
Topocentrala Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria, group exhibition ‘Female Bodies in the Digital’, May 11-June 9, 2023
Animatricks International Animation Festival, Helsinki, Finland, May 18-20, 2023
Experiments in Cinema, Albuquerque, NM, USA, April 18-22, 2023
Videoformes Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, France, March 16-April 2, 2023
Traverse Video Festival, Toulouse, France, March 16-31, 2023
Nederlands Film Festival, Utrecht, Netherlands, Sept 2022

CREDITS:

Director & Screenwriter: Tess Martin
Director of Photography: Matija Pekić
Art Director: Iris Schutgevaar
Performers: Iris Schutgevaar & Amy Gale
Lead Animator: Marike Verbiest
Assistant Animator: Tess Martin
Color Correction: Matija Pekić
Sound Design & Music: Jorick Bronius

Produced by Volya Films
Distributed by Bonobostudio.

This film was supported in the context of ULTRAKORT, a collaboration between Netherlands Film Fund, VUE Cinemas and the Dutch Association of Arthouse Cinemas (NFO).

At the end of 2019 I had the pleasure of making a charcoal animation for a piece of flash fiction written by author Cherie Jones. Voice is a short story that addresses the aftermath of a sexual assault in a metaphorical way.
Music by Jason Staczek and narration by Marta Parlatore.

Screenings:

FemFest, WORM, Rotterdam, March 8, 2023

Wild Summer of Art, Part II, group exhibition, BRUTUS, Rotterdam, Aug 6-Sept 4, 2022

Tricky Women Animation Festival, Vienna, Austria, March 10-14, 2021

Go Short International Film Festival, Nijmegen, Netherlands, April 11-15, 2021

Shortcutz, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Oct 6, 2020

Supertoon International Animation Festival, Croatia, July 20-24, 2020

Time Waves, 2019, projected loop (charcoal), framed photo & text, sound machine. In collaboration with Stellata Koppe, presented at WORM, Rotterdam, December 2019.

This piece connects two sides of the North Sea and two time periods: a charcoal animated loop of waves washing on the shore of Fraserburgh, a small town in Scotland, from which Tess’ ancestors fished for centuries, and Hoek van Holland in the modern day, where Stellata collected debris and sand to give sound to the waves through a kinetic sculpture. In this way, the sea has become a time traveling device - to connect past and present, coast to coast, water and dust.

Orbit is a film and installation project about the relationship between humanity and the sun. It consists of:

- a 7 minute short film,
- an interactive installation,
- a flexi disc,
- and a print series with associated animations.

The short film had its festival premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in January 2019 (the film is distributed by Bonobostudio). The interactive installation was presented at Rotondes, Luxembourg in 2024 as well as TOKAS Hongo in Tokyo in 2020, and before that also at WORM UBIK in Rotterdam in April 2018 and the TAFF Festival in Finland in August 2019. The ORBIT flexi disc was launched in January 2019. This is a playable and filmable record with the film’s soundtrack and one of its phonotrope designs embedded in it. A series of monotype prints incorporating the orbit designs was produced on an artist residency at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, California in January 2019. Some of these prints were re-animated, creating videos that can be displayed alongside the prints themselves. Four of these prints + animations are in the collection of the Kala Art Institute Gallery.

On this page you can see images and videos related to each iteration of the project, including a trailer for the short film, a documentation video of the Tokyo installation, a documentation video of the flexi, and an excerpt from one of the animated print videos. To purchase a flexi disc, email tess@tessmartinart.com.

ORBIT Short Film:

Logline:
Spinning drawings guide us along the flow of energy through our planet, and let us ponder our place in the natural cycle.

Credits:
Film by Tess Martin
Music by Jason Staczek
Camera by Matija Pekic

Made possible by:
Netherlands Film Fund
Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie
Rooftop Films
Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst
Gemeente Rotterdam
I-Park Foundation
Djerassi Resident Artist Program

SCREENINGS:

‘Turn On’ group exhibition, Rotondes Explorations Culturelles, Luxembourg
Márgenes Film Festival, Madrid, Spain, Nov 24-Dec 3, 2023
OFF Screen, WORM, Rotterdam, June 7, 2023
Labocine online magazine ‘Scientific Musicals’ edition, January 2023
Wild Summer of Art, Part II, group exhibition, BRUTUS, Rotterdam, Aug 6-Sept 4, 2022
Best of Cardiff Animation Festival, UK, Jan 16, 2022
Gallery Striegl, Bonobostudio program, Sisak, Croatia, Dec 18, 2021
L’Alternativa, Barcelona, Spain, Nov 15-Dec 5, 2021
Lublin Film Festival, Lublin, Poland, Nov 19-27, 2021
Un Festival, C’est Trop Court, special program, Mouans-Sartoux, France, Sept 23, 2021
Japan Media Arts Festival, Special Site, Sept 23-Dec 24, 2021
Tartuff, Black Nights Film Festival, Tartu, Estonia, Aug 2-7, 2021
Fest Anca, Zilina, Slovakia, July 1-4, 2021
Festival Cinéma Jeune Public, Lausanne, Switzerland, Nov 25-29, 2020
Cardiff Animation Festival, UK, Oct 24-Nov 1, 2020
Animatricks Animation Festival, Helsinki, Finland, Oct 15-18, 2020
Flipbook Film Festival, Skopje, Macedonia, Aug 7-13, 2020
New Directors New Films Festival, Portugal, Aug 2-9, 2020
Japan Media Arts Festival, 2020
Animakom, Bilbao, Spain, July 6-12, 2020
Landshut Short Film Festival, Landshut, Germany, March 26-27, 2020
Media Wave online film festival, Mar 1-April 28, 2020
Cosmic Rays Film Festival, Chapel Hill, NC, Mar 6, 2020
Animac International Animation Film Festival of Catalonia, Lleida, Spain, Feb 28, 2020
Regensburg Short Film Week, Regensburg, Germany, Mar 11-18, 2020
Revolutions per Minute Festival, U-Mass, Boston, MA, USA, Jan 31-Feb 3, 2020
Malt Adult Animation Show, Columbus, OH, Dec 7, 2019
Festival Tous Courts, Aix-en-Provence, France, Dec 3-7, 2019
Kort Film Festival Leuven, Belgium, Nov 30-Dec 7, 2019
Anilogue International Animation Festival, Budapest, Hungary, Nov 27-Dec 1, 2019
Animasivo Animation Festival, Mexico City, Mexico, Nov 27-Dec 1, 2019
Exground Film Fest, Wiesbaden, Germany, Nov 15-24, 2019
Sound Unseen, Minneapolis, MN, Nov 12-17, 2019
Kaboom Animation Festival, Amsterdam, Nov 14-15, 2019
Kasseler Dokfest, Germany, Nov 13, 2019
Zinebi International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, Spain, Nov 8-15, 2019
Leeds International Film Festival, UK, Nov 6-21, 2019
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, Japan, Nov 4, 2019
CRAFT International Animation Festival, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Oct 28-Nov 2, 2019
Banjaluka International Animated Film Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Oct 24-28, 2019
Milwaukee Film Festival, WI, Oct 18-31, 2019
Animafilm Baku International Animation Festival, Azerbaijan, Oct 18-20, 2019
Shnit Worldwide Film Festival, Bern, Switzerland, Oct 17-27, 2019
Nice Short Film Festival, France, Oct 11-18, 2019
Drunken Film Festival, Oakland, CA, Oct 9, 2019
Anim’est Bucharest International Animation Festival, Romania (International Short Competition), Oct 4-13, 2019
KloosterKino, Nijmegen, Oct 5, 2019
Animatou, Geneva, Switzerland, Oct 4-12, 2019
Netherlands Film Festival, Utrecht, Sept 27-Oct 5, 2019
Shortcutz Amsterdam, Sept 24, 2019 - WINNER BEST EXPERIMENTAL
Animation Block Party, Brooklyn, NY, Sept 21, 2019
Message to Man International Film Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia, Sept 18, 2019
PIAFF, Paris International Animation Film Festival, France, Sept 17-23, 2019
Squeaky Wheel Animation Festival, Buffalo, NY, Sept 6, 2019
Linoleum Festival of Contemporary Animation and Media Art, Kiev, Ukraine, Sept 4-8, 2019
Animanima International Animation Festival, Cacak, Serbia, Sept 4-7, 2019
Belo Horizonte International Short Film Festival, Brazil, Aug 30-Sept 8, 2019
Odense International Film Festival, Denmark, Aug 26-Sept 1, 2019
AricaDoc, Arica, Chile, Aug 26-31, 2019
ORBIT short film and installation at Turku Animation Film Festival, Finland, Aug 21-25, 2019
Pleinbioscoop (Open Air Cinema), Rotterdam, Aug 11, 2019
Aggregated Animated Shorts, Oakland, CA, Aug 2-31, 2019 - WINNER, Best Technique Audience Choice and Narrative Jury’s Choice Award
Insomnia International Open-Air Animation Film Festival, Kaluga, Russia, July 18-22, 2019
Anibar International Animation Festival, Peja, Kosovo, July 20, 2019
Animations on the Big Screen, Artscape, Baltimore, MD, USA, July 19-21, 2019
Anima Mundi International Animation Festival, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, Brazil, July 17-28, 2019
Under the Radar, Vienna, Austria, July 1-5, 2019
Fest Anca International Animation Festival, Zilina, Slovakia, June 27-30, 2019
De Kortste Nacht - Het Beste van de Buren, Kort Film Festival Leuven, Belgium, June 21, 2019
Snake Alley Festival of Film, Burlington, IA, USA, June 20-23, 2019
Sardinia Film Festival, Italy, June 15, 2019 - WINNER, Best Video Art
Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle, WA, USA, May 27, 2019
Rotterdams Open Doek Festival, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, May 26, 2019
Rooftop Films Summer Series, New York, USA, May 17 + Aug 2, 2019
Anifilm International Festival of Animated Films, Trebon, Czech Republic, May 07-12, 2019
International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Go Short presents: Best of Dutch Shorts, May 03, 2019
Experiments in Cinema, Albuquerque, NM, USA, April 16-20, 2019
Athens International Film and Video Festival, OH, USA, April 08-14, 2019
GoShort International Short Film Festival, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, April 03-07, 2019
Ann Arbor Film Festival, MI, USA, March 26-31, 2019
Tricky Women Animation Film Festival, Vienna, Austria, March 13-17, 2019
International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Netherlands, January 24, 2019 - WORLD PREMIERE

OTHER HONORS:
Finalist, Lions Films Award, Rotterdam, May 2019
Theater Rotterdam Media Wall - November-December 2019

ORBIT INSTALLATION:

‘Turn On’ group exhibition, Rotondes Explorations Culturelles, Luxembourg, Jan 19-Feb 11, 2024

TOKAS, Tokyo Art and Space, Hongo Jan 11 - Feb 09, 2020

Turku Animated Film Festival, Finland, Aug 2019

Out of Frame, Out of Line, Out of Order, Out of Paper, WORM, Rotterdam, April 2018

Read the interview and review on Zippy Frames.

Ginevra, 2017, 3’42’’, HD video (paper cut-out)

This experimental animation film is based on an unfinished a poem by Percy Shelley, which in turn was based on the Florentine legend of Ginevra degli Almieri. It posits an alternate version of Ginevra who undergoes a resurrection after being murdered by her husband. The poignant funeral dirge, narrated in the film by Ginevra’s mother, also points to Percy Shelley himself, whose own untimely demise at sea at the age of 29 is the reason the poem remained unfinished. The film, carefully crafted from paper, was made in collaboration with producer Max Rothman, who paired together filmmakers and musicians for this project. Ginevra premiered at the Bellevue Arts Museum in WA, USA alongside sets and puppets used in its creation.

Credits:

Director: Tess Martin
Producer: Max Rothman
Composer & Sound Designer: Jeremy Lloyd-Styles
Narrator: Alexana Ryer

Backstory:

This short film is based on a poem called ‘The Dirge’ by Percy Shelley (not to be confused with another Shelley poem called A Dirge). Max Rothman at Monticello Park Productions brought this project to animation filmmaker Tess Martin. Upon further research Tess discovered that The Dirge is actually part of a longer, unfinished poem called Ginevra (read the full poem here).

In the book The Poems of Shelley: Volume Four 1820-1821 by Michael Rossington, Jack Donovan and Kelvin Everest, the authors speculate that the poem might have been inspired by a supposedly true story contained in a book that his wife Mary was reading at the time. The story is that of Ginevra degli Almieri, a Renaissance-era urban legend about a woman who was thought dead of a plague that swept the city of Florence in the year 1400, and was put in a vault to be buried the next day. But she then awakens and is mistaken for a ghost by both her husband and her parents. Unfortunately, Percy Shelley himself died an untimely death in 1822, and was not able to finish this poem. His wife Mary published just the last segment under the title ‘The Dirge’, as well as the rest of the unfinished poem under the title ‘Ginevra’, in 1824 after Percy’s death.

The animated film incorporates inspiration from the Ginevra backstory, as well as direct inspiration from the poem itself. It is created using primarily cream-colored paper cut-outs on a multi-plane animation stand, with lots of lights and colored filters.

Festivals:

Fronteiras, Ayamonte, Spain and Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal, Oct 19-26, 2019
Sister Cities Animated, Baltimore, MD, USA, Feb 11, 2019
Festival of Time, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, January 4-6, 2019 - WINNER, Best Production Design
Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival, Worcester, MA, USA, Oct 20, 2018 - FINALIST, Best Animation & Best Overall Production
Ellensburg Film Festival, Ellensburg, WA, Oct 6-8, 2018
ANIMANIMA, Cacak, Serbia, Sept 4-8, 2018
Walla Walla Movie Crush, Walla Walla, WA, July 6-8, 2018
Snake Alley Festival of Film, Burlington, IA, June 20-23, 2018
GRRLS HAUS Cinema, WORM, Rotterdam, May 27, 2018
CineNoord, Rotterdam, May 18, 2018
Underexposed Film Festival yc, Rock Hill, SC, May 9-12, 2018
Northwest Fest, Edmonton, Canada, May 03-13, 2018
Riverside International Film Festival, Riverside, CA, April 17-22, 2018
Athens International Film and Video Festival, Athens, OH, USA, April 9-15, 2018
Black Maria Film Festival, NJ, USA, Feb 2018 – WINNER, Jury’s Citation Award
Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, Nov 8-12, 2017
St. Louis International Film Festival, St. Louis, MO, Oct 30-Nov 12, 2017
Tallgrass Film Festival, Wichita, KS, Oct 18-22, 2017
Primanima, the World Festival of First Animations, Budaors, Hungary, Oct 18-21, 2017
KLIK! Amsterdam Animation Festival, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Oct 17-22, 2017
Imagine Science Film Festival, New York, NY, Oct 13-20, 2017
StopTrik International Film Festival, Maribor, Slovenia, Oct 5-8, 2017
Seoul international Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival (SESIFF), South Korea, Sept 12-15, 2017
Moonrise Film Festival, Wells, BC, Aug 25-27, 2017
ANIMAZE, Montreal International Animated Film Festival, Canada, Aug 20, 2017
Atlanta Underground Film Festival, GA, Aug 18-20, 2017
Chain Film Festival, Brooklyn, NY, Aug 7-13, 2017
San Antonio Film Festival, San Antonio, TX, Aug 1-6, 2017
Animation Block Party, Brooklyn, NY, July 27-30, 2017 – WORLD PREMIERE

Exhibitions/Screenings/Other:

Alaska Airlines Seattle International Film Festival Channel inflight entertainment, July 2019
Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA, June 30-Oct 22, 2017, solo show

The Lost Mariner, 2014, 5’45’’, HD video (photo cut-out)

Jimmie G. was a real patient of neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks and his unique condition left him ‘unmoored in time’ (as related in the book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat). This experimental film uses photographs to explore how identity is inexorably tied to memory and the perception of ourselves in time. The Lost Mariner has screened at venues worldwide.

Credits:

A film by Tess Martin, inspired by “The Lost Mariner” from “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” written by Dr. Oliver Sacks.  Supervising Producers – Warren Etheredge, Brad Hutchinson; Young Jimmie – Ruud Aarden; Old Jimmie – Hank Botwinik; Doctor – Kieran Dolan; Ray – Tjeerd Knoop; Voice of Ray – Jeff Hoyt; Film Shoot Camera – Thijs van Gasteren; Sound Design – Production House Media; Music – Jason Staczek. Created at AKV|St Joost, The Netherlands

SCREENINGS
Worlding the Brain Symposium, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Nov 2, 2017
Open Theater MeMeme, Anyang, South Korea, Sept 15-17, 2017
Hotel Eastlund, Lower Boom October Program, Portland, OR, Oct 5-31, 2016
Disposable Film Festival featured at Exploding Cinema, Cinema Museum, London, UK, Oct 1, 2016
Moonrise Film Festival, Wells, Canada, Aug 26-28, 2016
Psychology Animation: Animated Mind, Image Power, Renmin University Art Gallery, Beijing, China Aug 9-Sept 9, 2016
Shot in the Dark: hand-crafted animated shorts from around the world, Seattle, WA, USA, Aug 8, 2016
Black Maria Film Festival retrospective, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., USA, Aug 6, 2016
Animix, Tel-Aviv Animation Festival (The Animation Comics Caricature International Festival), Tel-Aviv, Israel, Aug 2-6, 2016
Animation Attack!, Atlanta, GA, May 21, 2016
Northwest Fest, Edmonton, Canada, May 8, 2016
Riverside International Film Festival, Riverside, CA, May 6, 2016
Future Film Festival, Bologna, Italy, May 6, 2016
Black Maria Film Festival retrospective, Anthology Film Archives, New York City, USA, April 28, 2016
Stop Motion Now: Handmade Animation in the Digital Age, Nijmegen, Netherlands, April 23, 2016
Disposable Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, April 7, 2016
Cartoons & Bloody Marys, Seattle Transmedia & Independent Film Festival, Seattle, WA, March 26, 2016
Richmond International Film Festival, Richmond, VA, March 3-6, 2016
Black Maria Film Festival, NJ, USA & tour, Feb 2016 – WINNER, Jury’s Choice Award, 2nd Prize
Animated Dreams, Tallinn, Estonia, Nov 18-22, 2015
Seattle Shorts Film Festival, Seattle, WA, Nov 14-15, 2015 – NOMINATED, BEST ANIMATION
CutOut Fest, Querétaro, Mexico, Nov 12-15, 2015
Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, Nov 11-15, 2015
Underexposed Film Festival yc, Rock Hill, SC, Nov 4-7, 2015 – WINNER BEST ANIMATED FILM
INVIDEO, Milan, Italy, Oct 28-Nov 1, 2015
Strange Beauty Film Festival, Durham, NC, Oct 22-24, 2015
Imagine Science Film Festival, New York City, NY, Oct 16-24, 2015
Tallgrass Film Festival, Wichita, KS, Oct 16-17, 2015
FICSAM, International Mental Health Film Festival, Faro, Portugal, Oct 8-10, 2015
European Animated Film Festival Balkanima, Belgrade, Serbia, Oct 6-10, 2015
Stoptrik International Film Festival, Maribor, Slovenia, Oct 1-4, 2016
AnimaSyros International Animation Festival, Syros, Greece, Sept 24-27, 2015
Netherlands Film Festival, Utrecht, Netherlands, Sept 23-Oct 2, 2015
Raindance Film Festival, London, UK, Sept 23-Oct 4, 2015
Animacursed: International Festival of Darkness Animation for Adults, Rio de Janeiro, Sept 03-13, 2015; Sao Paolo, Sept 24-26, 2015
Massachusetts Independent Film Festival, Somerville, MA, Aug 26, 2015
Chain NYC Film Festival, Long Island City, NY, Aug 14, 2015
Snake Alley Film Festival, Burlington, IA, Aug 6-8, 2015 – WINNER BEST STUDENT FILM
San Antonio Film Festival, San Antonio, TX, July 28-Aug 2, 2015
Filmadrid, Madrid, Spain, June 5-13, 2015
Animasivo, Mexico City, Mexico, May 27-31, 2015
Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle, WA, May 24, 2015
Sunscreen Film Festival, St. Petersburg, FL, April 30-May 3, 2015
Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, Philadelphia, PA, April 17-25, 2015
Fete de l’Anim, Lille/Tourcoing, France, March 27-29, 2015
American Documentary Film Festival, Palm Springs, CA, March 26-30, 2015 – WINNER, BEST ANIMATED FILM
Flatpack Film Festival, Birmingham, UK, March 19-29, 2015
Holland Animation Film Festival, Utrecht, the Netherlands, March 18-22, 2015
Byron Bay International Film Festival, Byron Bay, Australia, March 6-14, 2015
ANIMATEKA, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Dec 8-14, 2014
Seville European Film Festival, Seville, Spain, Nov 9-15, 2014
PrimAnima World Festival of First Animations, Budaors, Hungary, Oct 29 & 30, 2014 – WORLD PREMIERE

Mario, 2014, 2’54’’, HD video (paint)

Playground songs from one’s childhood leave an indelible mark. This song that we chanted haunted me into adulthood, and for good reason. It tells the story of a soldier who returns from war, finds his girlfriend has left him, and decides to kill her. The seriousness of the story is contradicted by the blitheness of our children’s game. Could it have really happened? This experimental animated film pulls the song back into the present moment, using swirling, morphing paint that blurs the line between real and unreal, fact and fiction, playground game and history.

Credits:

Film by Tess Martin
“Tutti Mi Chiaman Mario”, traditional, sung by Anna Uberti with Emily Jane Tolimieri and Vittorio D. Mount.
Score by Jason Staczek
Made possible by 4Culture

SCREENINGS:
Bologna in Lettere International Poetry & Video Art Festival, online, May 10, 2024
Aftermath: animations exploring war, conflict and loss, New Walk Museum, Leicester, UK, Oct 6 2018 & Centrala, Birmingham, UK, Nov 3, 2018
Dawson City International Short Film Festival, Canada, April 13-16, 2017
Animanima International Animation Festival, Haptic special program, Cacak, Serbia, Sept 7-11, 2016
Animation Attack!, Atlanta, GA, May 21, 2016
Cartoons & Bloody Marys, Seattle Transmedia & Independent Film Festival, Seattle, WA, March 26, 2016
Belgrade Film Festival, Belgrade, Serbia, March 20-26, 2016
GIRAF Festival of Independent Animation, Calgary, Canada, Nov 26-29, 2015
New Chitose Airport International Animation Festival, Chitose, Japan, Oct 31-Nov 3, 2015
Factual Animation Film Fuss, London, UK, Sept 26-27, 2015
AnimaSyros International Animation Festival, Syros, Greece, Sept 24-27, 2015
Animacursed: International Festival of Darkness Animation for Adults, Rio de Janeiro, Sept 03-13, 2015; Sao Paolo, Sept 24-26, 2015
Countryside Animafest Cyprus Festival, July 13-18, 2015
Anima Mundi, Rio de Janeiro, July 10-15, São Paulo, July 17-22 
Melbourne International Animation Festival, Melbourne, Australia, June 26-28, 2015
Brooklyn Film Festival, NY, May 31-June 2, 2015
Animasivo, Mexico City, Mexico, May 27-31, 2015
Short Circuit Festival, Victoria, BC, Canada, May 8-9, 2015
Sunscreen Film Festival, St. Petersburg, FL, April 30-May 3, 2015
Holland Animation Film Festival, Utrecht, the Netherlands, March 18-22, 2015
Victoria Film Festival, Victoria, BC, Canada, Feb 6-15, 2015
Black Maria Film + Video Festival and Tour, NJ, February, 2015 – WINNER: Director’s Choice 3rd Prize
ANIMATEKA, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Dec 8-14, 2014
CouchFest Films, worldwide, Dec 6, 2014.
zwergWERKchen, Oldenburg, Germany, Nov 30, 2014
St Louis International Film Festival, St Louis, MO, USA, Nov 23, 2014
Bradford Animation Festival, Bradford, UK, Nov 17-22, 2014
DOK Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, Oct 27-Nov 2, 2014
Local Sightings Film Festival, Seattle, WA, Sept 30, 2014 – WINNER, Best Short Film
Moonrise Film Festival, Wells, BC, Canada, August 7-10, 2014
Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle, USA, May 24, 2014

The Whale Story, 2012, 3’36’’, HD video (mural animation, performance/intervention)

Our human experience is filled with well-told stories of potential, possible, connection with animals. One such story is that of a fisherman, who helped to free a female humpback whale from fishing nets off the coast of San Francisco, and seems to receive a look of thanks from her in return. These stories are repeated over and over to the point of becoming legends, because we will never know for sure. The mystery is what drives the yearning. This experimental film takes on this story by ‘performing’ it in a public park, on a large wall, and inviting the passing community to retell the story in their own words. This project was supported by the 4Culture organization in Seattle, USA, and has screened in venues around the world.

Directed and Animated by: Tess Martin; Additional Animators: Webster Crowell, Stefan Gruber, Britta Johnson, Amanda Moore; Actor: DK Pan; Music & Audio: Spencer Thun; Interviewees: Jenny Asarnow, Alec Deason, Emily Eagle, Marc Hobbs, Ilana Holmes, Britt Madsen, Tristan Parker, Anthony Sonnenberg; Volunteers: Katie Durant-Storey, Alma, Khasawnih, Shannon MacIntyre, Britt Madsen, Doug Mora, Houria Rollosson, Venus Volante

This story was originally heard in the Radiolab podcast ‘Animal Minds’ and was animated primarily over one weekend in Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park.

Made Possible by: Sound Transit, 4Culture

SCREENINGS:

Festival Animocje, Bydgoszcz, Poland, April 3-9, 2022

Rooftop Films, Seattle Shorts program, Brooklyn, NY, July 20, 2017

“Who’s Your Mama?” Earth Day and Environmental Film Festival at Kent State University, April 13, 2017

Ciné Privé Film Festival, Ghent, Belgium, March 3-5, 2016

WINNER, Bronze Spotlight Short Film Award

e4c, 4Culture media gallery, Seattle, WA, Oct 2015-Oct 2016

As part of Strange Creatures program (curated by Tess Martin):
ANIMATEKA, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Dec 8-14, 2014
zwergWERKchen, Oldenburg, Germany, Nov 30, 2014
Fay’s Film Festival, Free Fringe Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Sept 7, 2014
Cinema Nova, Brussels, Belgium, April 18th, 2014
OT301, presented by the A/V Club, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 13th, 2014
Kavarna Liberal, Prague, Czech Republic, March 11, 2014
Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest, Hungary, March 5, 2014
Under the Radar Animation Symposium, TopKino, Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2014
NW Film Forum, Seattle, WA, USA, August 3, 2013

As part of Children’s Film Festival Best of Fest Animation touring program:
Vashon Theatre, Vashon, WA – November 22, 2014
Cornell Cinema, Ithaca, NY – November 15, 2014
Cinema Falls, Sioux Falls, SD – October 18, 2014
Scottsdale International Film Festival, AZ – October 10-13, 2014
Nevada City Film Festival, CA – September 6, 2014
Lincoln Theatre, Mt Vernon, WA – June 21, 2014
The Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville, PA – May 22, 2014
The Pickford Film Center in Bellingham, WA – April 26 & 27, 2014
Rincon International Film Festival, Puerto Rico – April 8, 2014
West Hampton Beach Performing Arts Center, West Hampton, NY – April 5, 2014
The Rose Theater, Port Townsend, WA – March 9, 2014

Tassie Eco Film Festival, Tasmania, Australia, Nov 12-15, 2015

AniFilm International Festival of Animated Film, Trebon, Czech Republic, May 6-10, 2015

ANFFiS, the ANimal Film Festival, Suncheon, South Korea, May 22-28, 2015

NW Animation Festival, Portland, OR, May 4-10, 2015

Ocean and River Film Festival, Forks, WA, April 25, 2015

As part of the San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival traveling program:
Thunder Bay International Film Festival, Alpena, Michigan, Jan 21-25, 2015

Culture Collective, Global Visions Film Festival presentation, Edmonton, AB, Canada, January 29, 2015

Maryland International Kids Film Festival, Frederick, MD, January 17, 2015

Kids & Docs: from Documentary to Animation, Greek Film Archive, Athens, Greece, Dec 22-29, 2014

Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival, Flagstaff, AZ, Oct 8-12, 2014

Croatian Children’s Film Festival, Varaždin, Ludbreg and Čakovec, Croatia, Sept 25-28, 2014

Crested Butte Film Festival, Crested Butte, CO, Sept 25-28, 2014

We Like ‘Em Short Film Festival, Baker City, OR, August 14-17, 2014

Seoul International NewMedia Festival, South Korea, Aug 7-15, 2014

ANDKids World Film Festival, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN, July 23-26, 2014

Doris Duke Theater, Honolulu Museum of Art, HI, Children’s Film Festival Earthwise program, July 20, 2014

Village Green Festival, Southend-on-Sea, UK, July 12, 2014

Last Friday Shorts, TAP Gallery, Southend-on-sea, UK, June 27, 2014

World Oceans Day Film Festival, Honolulu, HI, June 8, 2014

NewFilmmakers, Anthology Film Archives, NYC, June 4, 2014

Mountainfilm Telluride Festival, Telluride, CO, May 26, 2014 – selected for MOUTAINFILM ON TOUR 2014-2015
Charleston Music Hall, Charleston, SC, Feb 22, 2015
Indian Creek School, Crownsville, MD, Oct 25, 2014
Gryphon Theatre, Laramie, WY, Oct 10, 2014
Omni Mt. Washington Resort, Bretton Woods, NH, July 2, 2014

Global Visions Film Festival, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, May 8-15, 2014

Milwaukee Underground Film Festival, Milwaukee, WI, May 1-4, 2014

Redcat International Children’s Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA, April 26, May 3 and May 10, 2014

Baltimore Green Week, Baltimore Green Works, MD, April 23, 2014

Flatpack Film Festival, Birmingham, UK, March 22, 2014

San Francisco International Ocean Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, March 8, 2014 – WINNER, Short Film Award.

As part of the 39th NW Filmmaker’s Festival Best of Fest touring program:
Eastern Oregon Film Festival, La Grande, OR – March 1, 2013
Ross Ragland Theater, Klamath Falls, OR – March 16, 2013
Northwest Film Center, Portland, OR – April 25 & 28, 2013
Cinema Pacific, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR – April 19, 2013
Pacific Cinematheque, Vancouver, BC – June 26, 2013
Beaverton County Library, Beaverton, OR – September 19, 2013
Lower Columbia College, Longview, WA – November 15, 2013
Reed College Film Forum, Portalnd, OR – February 8, 2014
Eltrym Theater, Baker City, OR – February 20, 2014
Skagway Arts Council, Scagway, AK – February 21, 2014

PLAY – Lisbon’s International Kids Film Festival, Lisbon, Portugal, Feb 1-9, 2014

Children’s Film Festival, Seattle, WA, Jan 23-Feb 2, 2014 – selected for BEST of FEST Touring Program

TGD 10, Experimental Documentaries Program, Maison de la Culture Douta Seck, Dakar, Senegal, Dec 31, 2013.

Short Film Festival Zubroffka, Białystok, Poland, Dec 4-8, 2013

Gaze #6: Luminous Impulse, Artist Television Access, San Francisco, CA, Nov 22, 2013

American Conservation Film Festival, Shepherdstown, WV, Oct 30-Nov 3, 2013

StopTrik International Film Festival, Niepolomice, Poland, Oct 25-27, 2013

Cine Eco, Seia, Portugal, Oct 19-26, 2013

ZIENaniMAtion Reverb Nite, Groningen, The Netherlands, Oct 1, 2013

Seoul international Extreme-Short Image & Film Festival, South Korea, September 26-30, 2013

Oakland Underground Film Festival, Oakland, CA, Sept 25-29, 2013

Incubate, Tilburg, The Netherlands, Sept 16-22, 2013

Washington State Studio Network Showcase, Lynnwood, WA, July 26-28, 2013

Revelation Perth International Film Festival, Perth, Australia, July 4-14, 2013

Experimental Film Festival, Portland, OR, May 25, 2013

Short Run presents: Ishi’s Brain, Seattle, WA, April 25, 2013

CineVic Short Circuit Festival, Victoria, BC, Canada, April 19-20, 2013

Experiments in Cinema, Albuquerque, NM, April 3, 2013

Dawson City International Short Film Festival, Dawson City, Canada, March 29, 2013

Water Docs International Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, March 24, 2013

Tricky Women Film Festival, Vienna, Austria, March 8, 2013

Byron Bay International Film Festival, Byron Bay, Australia, March 7 & 12, 2013

As part of Inter-Action special program at Cinematheque Quebecoise, Montreal, Canada, February 1, 2013

Strange Beauty Film Festival, Durhman, NC, Jan 24-26, 2013

l’Alternativa 2012 – 19th Barcelona Independent Film Festival, Barcelona, Spain, November 20-25, 2012 – Winner, Hall Screen Lomography Prize

zwergWERK, Oldenburg Short Film Days, Oldenburg, Germany, November 25, 2012

Imagine Science Film Festival, New York City, November 15, 2012

interfilm, International Short Film Festival Berlin, November 13-18, 2012

Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, NC, November 11, 2012

Couch Fest Films, worldwide, November 10, 2012 – Winner, Best Rescue Story Award

NW Filmmaker’s Festival, Portland, OR, November 9-11, 2012 – Selected for Best of the 39th NW Filmmaker’s Festival Touring Program

St. Louis International Film Festival, November 8-18, 2012

Bradford Animation Festival, Bradford, UK, November 13-17, 2012

Regent Park Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, November 7 & 8, 2012

Tallgrass Film Festival, Wichita, KS, October 19 & 20, 2012

Local Sightings Film Festival, Seattle, WA, October 2, 2012 – Nominated, Naked City Brewery Audience Award

Cabbagetown Short Film & Video Festival, Toronto, Canada, Sept 7, 2012

Salento Finibus Terrae, FilmFestival Internazionale Cortometraggio, Carovigno, Italy, July 30, 2012

Portugal Underground Film Festival, Fundao and Portimao, Portugal, June 8-16, 2012

Toronto Animated Image Society, June 1, 2012

Seattle International Film Festival, Seattle, WA, May 26, 2012

9th Green Film Festival in Seoul, Seoul, South Korea, May 9-15, 2012

Slices in Time, 2014, hanging paper stencils, HD video loop

Slices in Time is a strata stencil animated loop and installation made for the ASIFAKEIL gallery space in Vienna.

PRESENTATIONS:
2015-2016 e4c, 4Culture media gallery, Seattle, WA
2014      Slices in Time (solo show), ASIFAKEIL, Vienna, Austria (Feb 1-March 15)