I attended a screening of local films, called “The Best of Bernal,” a few nights ago. A documentary directed by San Francisco’s public defender, Jeff Adachi, highlighted racial bias in law enforcement. He hopes to show it widely to raise awareness of just how insidious and damaging racial profiling is.
Another film juxtaposed U.S. government archival footage of Japanese internment camps with “home” movies filmed by those who were interned. At one point, the faces of two mothers, both Japanese Americans, were stoic as they accepted medals from the U.S. government for the death of their sons in WWII. The reason their sons enlisted? To prove they were not traitors. The unshed tears of the mothers dissolved into a pool of water, creating concentric ripples that then dissolved into ripples of a koi pond. How apropos and moving that the koi is a symbol of strength. It was a masterful image sequence that will stay with me forever.
While both of these films were fantastic, they were made by adults, the latter a highly experienced filmmaker.
Enter, the prodigy. I would like to feature the film that was made by a friend’s just-turned-16-year-old daughter, Annabella Mortenson. She’s a student at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco. Her inspiration? California’s years-long drought that was finally broken this past winter while she was making this film.
In case you’re wondering, the concrete bunkers shown in this film are from World War II, when the headlands by San Francisco Bay were protected with heavy artillery. The remnants of these bunkers
that were once almost completely buried in earth are now exposed due to years of erosion. Some of the bunkers have fallen into the sea. The one shown above sits precariously above the Pacific.
I’m having trouble embedding the film into my post, so please paste the URL into your browser, delete the space I’ve inserted between the https and the colon, and then watch it on VIMEO.
Enjoy!
https ://vimeo.com/219014362/98b635a9e0
Jilanne Hoffmann 
Sadly I can’t find it — even when I cut and paste the URL (and remove the space). 😦
Hmmmm. Fiction Fan was able to view…..hmmm. I am mystified. Try to cut and paste this? https://vimeo.com/219014362/98b635a9e0
Lovely film! Clearly a very talented young woman…
Yes, she is. You may be reviewing one of her films sometime down the road.
Now, on another note. I expected you to say something about the bunkers and that perhaps it’s time for them all to fall into the ocean. Or maybe the crumbling concrete could be made into a wall around a certain group of politicians. 😀
Ha! Couldn’t we just stick them in the bunker and then watch as the cliffs erode? I’ll bring a flask of soup and some fireworks…
You always have the BEST ideas. It would be such a party, wouldn’t it?
Sixteen years old? I’m suddenly feeling woefully inadequate. 😄
LOL, yeah, I was just wandering around the farm, kicking up dust when I was 16. I consider, myself a very late bloomer. Well, actually I’m still in the process of blooming. 😀
She is so talented, what a great film. Bravo to her! I’m always excited to see what young people are creating.
ps love the new look of the blog 🙂
Thanks for viewing the film, Letizia! I’m looking forward to seeing what Annabella does in the future. And thanks for the compliment on the blog! It’s been a long time coming. Cheers!
Such talent! I am impressed. And I’m happy that California finally received rain. 🙂
So am I. But after the unprecedented rain came an unprecedented amount of tinder dried out by unprecedented heat. Leaving us with unprecedented fires. But at least the mountains and reservoirs have been replenished with snowpack and water. Nature is not something that humans can control.
That is lovely Jilanne, and touched and delighted me.
I also love the way you always champion the generations up-coming. After all, they are the ones who will have to get us out of the fine mess that earlier generations handed on. It’s always been the way – and of course it mustn’t be forgotten that those previous generations also (some of them/us) were working for solutions as well as no doubt creating problems
So true. I don’t like lumping entire groups of people into categories like “millenials,” saying that they’re all a certain way, and usually an unflattering perspective. So when I see promise in this world, I would like to be its champion. And yes, I know what you mean about trying to clean up part of the problem and sometimes creating new ones.
PS, I’m glad to see I’m up to Fiction Fan’s advanced technical standards as the linked worked for me too
Those are high standards, indeed!