Local filmmaker John Hillis’ documentary [kloi’ st r] was recently screened at the Uppsala Short Film Festival in Sweden, highlighting the growing presence of Nova Scotian artists abroad.
Hillis describes his film as a “rumination on how I came to be where I am,” and notes that the nature of his 12-minute documentary is far from usual.
“It’s structured as a search for definitions, and is focused through my experiences with cloisters in large urban centres,” he says.
The phonetic spelling of the word ‘cloister’ serves as an interpretive tool for the audience, with a dictionary page listing various definitions of the word introducing each section of the film.
Much of the film was shot at the Cloister Annex at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. This live action footage combines with elements of digital animation, and the two are blended together throughout the documentary.
Despite the New York setting of large parts of the film, Hillis’ connection with Nova Scotia is clear. An animated shot of the Halifax skyline features as a promotional still for the documentary, and Hillis notes the remarkable nature of the film community of his home province.
“One of the wonderful things about the industry in Nova Scotia is the generosity. They will give and give to independent projects.”
Although the supportive industry at home has provided Hillis with a wide range of resources and familiar contacts, he also stresses the importance of breaking into the international industry.
“I was first screened internationally in 2001. I met filmmakers from around the world, saw work dramatically different from what is being made here, and was able to compare the process with filmmakers from many different regions and cultures,” he says.
This international exposure also helps to relieve some of the financial pressures of making small, independent films. Although the film industry is often viewed as one where money is of little concern, Hillis indicates that the realities of independent filmmaking are very different.
He notes that the budget with which he works is often very small, yet exposure at festivals such as Uppsala has helped him to find solutions to this concern.
“I loved working on a larger set with a full crew, (but) I just felt I’d asked too often for them to work for free. Travelling to film festivals helped me to see how to make films with less dependency on freebies from others,” Hillis says.
As Hillis’s work continues to receive attention both in Canada and internationally, he is beginning a variety of new projects. Similar to [kloi’ st r], these will combine many different elements of multimedia, allowing his very specific topics to go beyond the traditional boundaries of film.
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