The Microcinema Savant - Filmmaker Interview Amir Motlagh - 2017

The original publication first published May 30th, 2017 can be found here: 

This is a repost  (sans media) from the original page:

Author - Sterling Anno

It was a little under a year ago that The Microcinema Savant wrote the review for the short, single-shot epic entitled, “Canyon“. The visual album remains one of modern digital cinema’s most successful uses of the technique. Replacing intimidation for fruition, director Amir Motlagh bestowed knowledge upon a world of onlookers that complex narratives & labyrinthian delivery can be realized in a much simpler fashion than most had been previously advised. Such is the mindset & drive of those who’ve accepted the cunning convenience that is cinematic storytelling of the modern age. Web 2.0 is a world of both immense possibility, as well as grueling competitiveness. For each online door that opens for the visual bard, there comes another terabyte’s worth of content to even those odds right out. This is a reality in which the Wild West can’t just be won anymore. It must be studied, molded & fully understood for the pioneers of today’s tomorrow.

People Don’t Go on Youtube to Watch Video Art.

  – Nelson Carvajal, August 2013

Truer words are incapable of being spoken. Within a virtual conglomerate full of distraction heavy  programming, the last video the regular consumer of such would seek out are those absent of the words “React” or “Let’s Play”. However, it’s possible for some to so expertly navigate this new internet that a platform can still be created in spite of poor odds. When video essayist Nelson Carvajal visited the Oceanside Intl. Film Festival in 2013, he & underground Chicago filmmaker Amir George presented Digital New Wave: Creating & Curating – a seminar explaining the current age of microcinema. Together, they enlightened an audience to the possibilities that await those who embrace the times. Those who looked to purposely lose track of convention’s artistic confinement. Those who wish to see technological advancement as a constant production greenlight. By ideologically validating the notions of appropriation, copyright rejection & sedition to censorship, the rules of filmmaking for the participants were instantly rewritten. Such is the fate of underground rhetoric affirming itself amongst the norm.

Much like the aforementioned Carvajal & George, Motlagh is another such adventurer whose tamed a good portion of this cyber-frontier. Having established & curated a successful viewership for his work since the turn of the millennium, he’s learned the ropes and stands as living proof that it’s not an exclusive club. Holding steadfast in this digital reality is not just possible, but somewhat mandatory if you want to be a relevant brand by any means whatsoever. With a very unique filmography & the creative eye to match it, Motlagh joined Kevin Manley and I for an interview on The Cutspeakuence Podcast. There, he not only explains his personal filmmaking origins, but also his cinematic philosophy as a whole – taking a zen approach to his tactics. Once learning what drives the director’s thirst for production, we dive into how that hunger bore accomplishment. You know, that elusive force that seems all but reachable? Yeah, he’s got some of that. So without further ado, please enjoy.

As you heard on the episode, Amir has a crowdfunding campaign going strong. As an effort to complete his next two projects, Three Worlds & Man, Motlagh has gone far beyond the notions of a realized video artist. He’s reaffirmed himself as one who can also conquer the funding circuit. We hope you’ve taking a bit of knowledge from our engagements with the filmmaker in question. If more could apply such, we’d most likely start to see a wider selection of prominent video artists within our more mainstream channels of digest. If you would like to contribute to Amir’s campaign(& we truly hope you will), please follow the link here.

A Scene from “Three Worlds”

– The Spork Guy