The video above is the trailer for Heart of Now – the latest feature from Sabi Pictures. I’ve been very interested in this Los Angeles based filmmaking collective for a few years now. They’ve released a handful of excellent short films and a huge amount of high quality behind-the-scenes stuff. When I learned that they would be premiering Heart of Now at the 2010 deadCENTER Film Festival, I immediately made plans to be there.
My expectations for Heart of Now were really high, and refreshingly, the movie did not disappoint. The film is beautifully made and incredibly moving. I have been thinking about it for almost two weeks now. I have a policy of not writing movie reviews, but Heart of Now has my highest recommendation. It left me emotionally moved but also completely reinvigorated about making movies.
Heart of Now is a perfect example of what I’m talking about when I mention “going smaller.” This is a personal, intimate and emotional movie. Sabi Pictures uses a collaborative filmmaking style where they develop the story and film as a group. They call it interdependent filmmaking. The resulting film feels very rich and real. All of the elements – acting, directing, editing, cinematography, music – are perfectly blended. None of the individual elements draw attention to themselves, instead they work in harmony with each other.
I’ve heard people describe the aesthetic style of Heart of Now as “documentary-like” but I think this is completely wrong. The movie does feel very real – in fact, I forgot I was even watching a movie and just lost myself in the world created here. The performances are some of the best I have ever seen in an independent film. The entire cast is excellent, but Marion Kerr is devastatingly good. The use of smaller digital cameras allows the filmmakers to put the audience right into the story. The camera moves, shot compositions and color palette all seem motivated by the emotions of the scene. We are always IN IT and never safely removed watching from the distance of a carefully framed master shot.
For the last few years, I’ve been thinking and writing about what I like to call microcinema. I use this term loosely to describe movies with tiny budgets created outside the Hollywood system with affordable digital gear. There have been some really good microcinema movies, but I feel like Heart of Now is one of the first to truly deliver on the potential of this type of filmmaking. It doesn’t try to recreate the style of a slick Hollywood drama. Instead, it creates a unique and beautiful style all its own.
If you make movies or love movies as an art form, you should put this one at the top of your list.
Heart of Now isn’t yet available on DVD, but there is a pretty cool way that you can see it. Sabi Pictures is kicking off a Tour in August. They are choosing the tour locations based on fan interest. If you’d like to see Heart of Now in your city, go to the Sabi Pictures site and request a screening in your town.
