Switched on Cinema: THE VILLAGE HOUSE (2019) w/ Live Ambient Film Score!

The Philosophical Research Society proudly welcomes the return of Switched on Cinema, an ongoing screening series which pairs eclectically curated films with live scores by electrifying modular synthesizer composers. The brainchild of dj A/D of KSPC’s Synthdactyl Program, Switched on Cinema’s mission is to highlight the many talented electronic artists in Southern California’s music scene, pairing them with exciting film selections which, through live film scores, will showcase their expansive artistry. With this very special event – their sophomore outing – Switched on Cinema cements the expansive range of their vision, transporting us from their inaugural screening/live score of Tomu Uchida’s 1962 medieval-Japan set supernatural, romantic tragedy The Mad Fox to the astonishing, tender, and meditative 2019 debut feature from 23-year old Indian writer/director Achal Mishra, THE VILLAGE HOUSE (GAMAK GHAR) – set to a tag-teamed, blissful and transcendent ambient live score by talented electronic artists Estevan Carlos Benson and duo Emma Palm & Marc Merza.

dj A/D (Switched on Cinema founder and programmer):

"For the 2nd Switched on Cinema, we are shifting to the debut film from Achal Mishra, a slow cinema dreamy masterpiece. The flowing colors, textures, pace, and beauty allows viewers a chance to pause and absorb the gorgeous live electronic ambient score from Marc, Emma and Estevan. This magical collaboration will create an equally magical event."

Estevan Carlos Benson (scoring the film’s first half):

"The film expresses quiet humility. I aim to represent its sincerity through gentle performance, improvisation, and use the influence of natural elements."

Emma Palm & Marc Merza (scoring the film’s second half):

“By exploring the various partitions of a rural family home, The Village House provides an intimate portrait of the spaces that bring generations together, whether for ceremonial rituals, cooking, talking or watching TV. As time compounds, family members change, as well as the house that brings them together. Our reimagined musical score aims to give space to reflect on the passage of time, which Achal Mishra does naturally in this film.”

THE VILLAGE HOUSE:

The astonishing debut feature from 23-year old writer/director Achal Mishra. THE VILLAGE HOUSE is a lovely, luminous and gentle portrait of a large extended Indian family over several decades as they gather at the matriarch’s rural home, following the inevitable rhythms of change, children moving away to the city, and the inexorable decay of traditional village life. Like Bergman’s FANNY AND ALEXANDER, THE VILLAGE HOUSE is suffused with warmth and nostalgia, and a remarkable eye for detail: men cheating amiably at cards, vegetables frying in oil, kids and uncles mesmerized by a Salman Khan movie, the ephemeral poetry of the present as it slips away. “Gradually we came down to visiting only once a year,” one character observes sadly as the house falls slowly into disrepair – and as the building ages with the family, THE VILLAGE HOUSE becomes the most intimate of epics, tracing birth, death and rebirth like a flood leaving its high water mark on the bark of a tree.

Do not miss your one opportunity to experience this meditative, transportive, and wholly unique event – a chance to see a true gem of modern Indian cinema transcendently transformed by a beautiful, live ambient score!

Dir. Achal Mishra, 2019, Unrated (Suitable for All Audiences), 1h 31m, India, Color, Presented Without Audio With English subtitles, Digital.

Special thanks to Switched on Cinema director Dia Hakinna and Deaf Crocodile Films.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS:

Estevan Carlos Benson

Estevan Carlos Benson is an artist, sound designer, and composer based in Los Angeles, California. His work addresses technology, culture, and creative exploration through custom built tools. He was recently a resident artist with the GFS/Konsonant Emerging Composer's program. He also teaches design and technology in Southern California and has given a number of lectures and workshops on topics relating to music, ethnomusicology, and technology.

Emma Palm

Emma Palm is a Taiwanese-American Los Angeles based musician and multimedia artist. Her music blends synthesizers, field recordings, guqin and vocals to create meditative soundscapes and textures that attempt to translate the in-between of identity, environment, and memory.

Marc Merza

Marc Merza is a Filipino-American artist and musician based in Los Angeles, California. His recordings are at times improvisational and spontaneous, and other times, heavily crafted, sculpted and reworked. He often composes on guitar, clarinet and Kulintang (a Filipino gong set) to speak to others, but the use of tape loops, field recordings and electronic equipment are not foreign in his music making practice.

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Host or Publisher The Philosophical Research Society