Untitled - EMAF

INTERNATIONALE AUSWAHL // INTERNATIONAL SELECTION
›Dead Time‹ is a story about two sisters, Wendy and Julie and their attempts at survival in spite of sexual abuse, excessive drug use
and consequently, desperate criminal behaviour.
The story begins as Wendy and Mark come together in the world. We follow them through their first marriage at age 16 and the subsequent
tragedy that befalls their four-month-old baby. Early on we learn that both Wendy and Mark are sexual abuse survivors who don't
have the support or resources to effectively deal with their traumas and so turn to a daily ration of potent drug abuse (cocaine, heroin,
alcohol, etc.) to ward off their psychological turmoil. Inevitably their marriage falls apart. Broken from the experience they both cling to
their steady diet of drugs, pharmaceuticals and alcohol. Shortly after her divorce Wendy meets Reg who is a convicted criminal living a
›shooters‹ lifestyle by dealing large quantities of cocaine, hash and heroin. They buy cars, boats, jewelry and take weekend vacations to
drug rich countries importing high-grade product. Wendy's sister Julie, on the other hand, describes herself as 120 lbs. of post psychedelic
drugs surfing on the border of clarity and functioning. She has lived her life by delving into areas considered taboo by many (prostitution,
the porn industry, excessive LSD use). Her life choices grew out of a need to escape her destructive childhood experiences and explore
all things forbidden. Julie's understanding of the world is constructed within the realms of her drug experiences. Her insights, although
unconventional, challenge traditional stereotypes and shed new light on art, sexual politics and power. All four players are one careless
step away from death through suicide, overdose or criminal prosecution. Like a house of cards verging on self-destruction, their lives play
out through a series of revolutions in an effort to regain control over their inner worlds.
›If processing and developing film was like a Betty Crocker recipe bake-off, Steve Sanguedolce would be the teenage contestant Gidget
on crack.‹ (Si Si Penaloza, L.I.F.T. newsletter) ›Sanguedolce creates provocative, smart and ingenious works on film which brilliantly blend
the personal and the universal.‹ (Alex McKenzie, Blinding Light Cinema) ›When the subject of distinctive Canuck auteurs comes up, the
discussion usually exhausts itself after Cronenberg, Egoyan and Bruce MacDonald (and to a lesser extent Patricia Rozema) are talked
about to death. And that's kind of sad, because we Canadians have our own gonzo filmmakers who warrant a piece in those discussions.
One such person is Torontonian Steve Sanguedolce.‹ (Adrian Lackey, Vue Weekly)
Steve Sanguedolce, born in Toronto, Sanguedolce's obsession with home movies led him to an enduring interest in the family.
But it wasn't until his tenure at Sheridan College (1978-81) that he would be lent tools to grant his interest expression. There, schooled in
the personal documentary ethos of the ›Escarpment School‹, Sanguedolce would begin a body of work that would peer relentlessly into the
darkest and most private moments of the self. After college he co-directed the scathing poetic documentary Full Moon Darkness (1983), a
brave and moving portrayal of ex-psychiatric patients which remains a signpost of poetic outrage and community unrest. His next five
movies would establish him as one of North America's premiere diary filmmakers winning a dozen international awards, returning home
to make Woodbridge (1985), a deconstruction of Italian mores, dissembling personal romance in the raw nerved Rhythms of the Heart
(1990), puncturing the myth of the traveler in the award winning Mexico (1992), revisiting a history of family photos in Sweetblood
(1993), the audacious Away (1996), intimately focused on the story of a man's search for his long lost twin brother and arguably his
strongest film to date SMACK (2000), a challenging hybrid documentary/ drama which follows the story of three brothers into a heroin
induced nightmare of addiction.
// CDN 2005, 35mm, 80:00
// Director, camera, sound: Steve Sanguedolce
// Company: Sweetblood Productions
// Editing: Steve Sanguedolce and Jeffrey Paull
// Actors: Tim Bolen, Anna Myszkowski, Amber Patterson, Chris Welsh
// Distribution: Steve Sanguedolce, www.stevesanguedolce.com
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