My Heart Swims in Blood
While Afghanistan burns, America fiddles…John Gianvito’s film is a mosaical journey through a dark night of the soul.
As fog descends upon the landscape, a man attempts to lull himself to sleep. Across the nation, Americans embrace their pleasures. 7000 miles away U.S. and coalition forces leave behind a trail of death, destruction, and profound resentment among many of the people of Afghanistan. Business as usual. A tirade and indictment against a decade of slaughter and occupation, and the “fruits” of American exceptionalism. With André Gregory.
Bio
John Gianvito is a director, teacher, and curator based in Boston. Gianvito’s 2001 feature “The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein”, a three-hour dramatic exploration of the United States during the period of the first Persian Gulf War received the Jury Prize at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, the first “Rosa Luxemburg Prize” and Best Independent Film at the New England Film/Video Festival. His 2007 film “Profit motive and the whispering wind” received considerable acclaim, earning 8 awards including “Best Experimental Film of the Year” by the National Society of Film Critics, and was cited on various Top Ten lists including in Sight & Sound, Film Comment, Cahiers du Cinema, and Cinema Scope. Gianvito’s latest documentary, Vapor Trail (Clark), a four and a half hour exploration of the impact of the U.S. military presence in the Philippines, past and present, had its premiere at the 2010 Rotterdam International Film Festival and was cited as one of the Top Ten Films of the year by critics in both Film Comment and Sight & Sound.
Full Credits
Direction: John Gianvito
Produced by: Nick Manley
Featured Performer: André Gregory (restless sleeper)
Voice-over:
Qiamuddin Amiry
Sarah Hickler
Maryam Shansab
Photographed by:
Harlan Bosmajian
Shaun Clarke
John Gianvito
Eric P. Gulliver
Matthew Hashiguchi
Gordon Hendrick
Nick Manley
Hunter Steinman
Rob Todd
Andrew Wheeler
Edited by: John Gianvito, Eric P. Gulliver
Sound Editing: Austin Plocher
Voice-over Studio Recording: Pierre Huberson
Sound Mix: Christina Hunt
Colorist: Owen Williams
On-Line Edit: LOCOMOTIVE
Music: Cantata 199, “My Heart Swims in Blood” by Johann Sebastian Bach, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and the Orchestra of Emmanuel Church, Nonesuch Records
Special Thanks to:
Margarett Jones, Executive Director of the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center for granting the photographing of the blind owls Tommy and Pippin.
And to André Gregory for his gracious participation.
Additional Thanks to:
Cindy Kleine
Emerson College
Michael Sheridan
Paul Turano
Michael Fallon
Joshua T. Jackson
Maureen Tripp
