Drills
17 min, digital video, 2020
Upcoming Screenings: Maysles Documentary Center, 12/9/22.
Distributed by Video Data Bank
Drills is a film about the choreography of preparing for the future. A hybrid documentary and experimental dance film reimagining the form of the Cold War-era, US government-produced social guidance film, Drills asks what futures we are preparing for through the exercises embodying present anxieties. Weaving in between multiple forms of choreography and documentation, Drills restages lockdown and active shooter drills, frames corporate and tech start-up office meditation, and reperforms Boy Scout drills from the 1917 Boy Scout manual.
Directed and Edited by Sarah Friedland. Produced by Sarah Friedland and Gabe C. Elder. Cinematography by Gabe C Elder. Sound Design by Assaf Gidron. Production Design by Stephanie Osin Cohen. Vocal Composition and Performance by Hayward Leach. Gaffer, Leon Izsak. Sound Recordist, Beatrix Chu. Production Assistant, Kyo Hecht. Student Workshop Facilitator and Consultant, Jacob Gross. Casting Director and Location Scout (Students unit), Iben Cenholt.
Featuring Hayward Leach, Nathan Ayotte, Emma Kathryn, Sarah Lilly, Martin F. McGrath V, Milo, Chelsea Morton, Chloe Doran Nestro, Danielle "Dani" Poyser, Ryan Romero, Daniella Sallese, Marc Briz, Brighid Greene, Gina Lee, Patric Madden, Alex Seoh, and Jesse Shayne.
Past Screenings: New York Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, Prismatic Ground, Hartnett Gallery as part of solo show Assembled Choreographies, ICDOCS, Collar Works Gallery, Maryland Film Festival, Pleasure Dome, Full Frame Film Festival
Recent Press in The Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, Screenslate, and Roger Ebert.