Directed by Deco Dawson

Synopsis: Winner of Best Short Film Award at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, FILM(dzama) rekindles the lost form of surrealist cinema made popular in the 1920s by Dali/Bunel and Man Ray. Motivated by the sheer magic, humor and disobedience of visual artist Marcel Dzama's work, Deco Dawson has created a stunningly original, entirely fictional biography of the artist.

Distribution Contact: WFG

More Details

RUNTIME: 23 Minutes
GENRE: Experimental
PRODUCTION FORMAT: 16mm, Super 8mm
LANGUAGE: English
LOCATION: Manitoba
KEYWORDS: Surrealist Cinema, Fictional Biography, Marcel Dzama, Art

Director's Statement: After completing his first four FILM(s) in a series, Dawson set out to incorporate everything he had learned and developed from the earlier work and put it into FILM(dzama). Recognizable consistencies include:
- the same opening FILM titlecard
- a unique 1920's style of cinematography
- A finely tuned editing style of jump cuts and montage editing
- the “peephole"" theme
- Repeated theme of a Doppelganger self.
- The use of vaseline and iris cut outs on the lens.
- The central repetitious action, in this case drawing,
(previously knitting, polishing, knot tying and mining)

The script was originally written for Marcel Dzama to play the part of “Marcel Dzama" however the part eventually went to Marcel's father Maurice after scheduling difficulties arose.
The Film won the Best Short Film award at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, and the Most Technically Innovative Film Award at the 2002 Ann Arbor Film Festival.

The costumes in the film were based on artwork by Marcel Dzama but were designed and expertly built by fellow Royal Art Lodge Members Drue Langlois, Myles Langlois and Jenny o. The costumes have appeared surprisingly in many Marcel Dzama magazine photoshoots since.
FILM(dzama) has screened in hundreds of film festivals worldwide since being released in 2001.