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Rolf Belgum, Minneapolis filmmaker and instructor at The Art Institutes International Minnesota, received the 2008 Grand Jury $10,000 Prize for his film, She Unfolds by Day at this year's CineVegas Film Festival in Las Vegas. She Unfolds by Day explores the afternoon in which a frustrated middle-aged son tries to manage his misanthropic 80-year-old mother. Along with his dog, they cope with signs of Alzheimer's, and her wandering draws her to nearby woods where the forms and rhythms of eco-systems shape their story. A series of disjointed loops melds fiction, documentary and nature elements into a strange mixture of heightened reality and unconscious imagery. She Unfolds by Day reintroduces life forms and natural elements as inseparable from our story. Belgum spent four years weaving visuals of tiny creatures from his backyard, animated motions of his dog and sublime expressions of wolf life with the antics of his forgetful 80-year-old mother.
Robert Koehler, from Variety reviews She Unfolds by Day, "A son's frustrated efforts to help his aging mother cope with Alzheimer's disease is given anything but standard treatment in Rolf Belgum's fluid, dreamy and beautiful "She Unfolds by Day." American narrative films about illness and family pressures rarely use poetic expression and stream-of-consciousness, but Belgum's is that rarity, and stands at the center of the blend of fiction and documaking that is world cinema's most interesting current trend. Such distinctiveness will give the pic a leg up with major art-oriented fests, if not buyers." (http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117937476.html?categoryid=1043&cs=1)
She Unfold by Day stars Belgum's mother (Merrilyn Belgum), wife (Julia Belgum), friend (Christopher Wells), and dog, (Jacques). When asked about the honor of premiering his film, She Unfolds by Day at CineVegas, Rolf Belgum said, "I am so happy to have been invited I can't even tell you. In a really strange way this City is the perfect place to launch this film." Belgum also adds, "I hope people find the film genuine. I guess my hope is that people will leave the theater with a bit more curiosity about the small life forms that surround us in our everyday life."
About Rolf Belgum:
Rolf Belgum received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in visual art at the University of Minnesota and his Master of Fine Arts Degree in filmmaking from The University of California at San Diego. His film Driver 23 is the lowest budget film ever purchased by Showtime network and aired on the Sundance Channel from 2001-2003. His work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Village Voice, Art In America, and Bomb magazine. Belgum was selected as one of five feature length filmmakers for the 2000 Whitney Biennial along with Errol Morris and Harmony Kornine. To learn more about Rolf Belgum and his films, visit http://fenrisfilms.com/.
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