THE PAINTING
The art of dying.
ABOUT
After a fateful trip to an MRI scan, Gem starts to face their own mortality. While spending a night with their partner Olivia, Gem begins to hear reports of a strange murder. Paranoia strikes Gem and they begin to seek out more reports. As more strange deaths and murders are reported in town, an inky black painting begins to grow along Gem’s bedroom wall. Consumed by guilt, Gem begins to see grotesque visions. After fighting with Olivia, they have an encounter with a horrid monster. After escaping, they begin to have a panic attack, overcome with grief for all the death they’ve experienced. At the peak of their panic attack, they’re stopped by a magical force which then transforms them into a Death, a monster which brings about the natural progression of life, death. After having watched Gem transform, Olivia and Gem talk and reconcile. Gem learns that while they did cause all the deaths, it’s because they’re one of Death’s helpers and it’s their job. Gem embraces death and moves on.
YEAR 2017
RUN TIME 15:23 Min
EMAIL avenitucci@mica.edu Website: vimeo.com/andreavenitucci
CAST & CREW CREDITS
DIRECTED BY Andreá Venitucci
SCREENPLAY BY Andreá Venitucci
PRODUCED BY Will Bryson
ART DIRECTOR Prism Shilling
MUSIC COMPOSER Nick Daly
PRINCIPAL CAST
Zi Xu | Em Gomeen
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
There is no “which is worse and which is better” when picking through the scarce forms of representation given minority groups.
The representation at large is tokenized and the underground forms are scrutinized.
Sometimes it feels better not to exist in any form of media but that relief only lasts a short while. What was once hunger is now starvation.
Marginalized parts of one’s identity do not exist in a bubble. If Im transgender, that doesn’t make me any less disabled. Being disabled doesn’t make me white. Being brown doesn’t make me straight. And so on. I can’t watch a show that’s blatantly transphobic even if stars a Peruvian. I can’t watch a racist film even if it was written by an autistic person. I want nothing more to support creators and media that share parts of my identity but how do I do that when they contribute to bigotry.
I’m not perfect and I will never be perfect (that’s an understatement.) But I want to do better and be better (I’m trying more than ever.)
Step one is realizing you do not have the authority to tell other people’s stories.
Step two is reaching out to those unlike you.
Step three is supporting them.
Step four is collaborate.
DIRECTOR BIO
Andreá Venitucci is a New York born, Florida raised, Baltimore transplant currently working on their graduate degree in Filmmaking at The Maryland Institute College of Art. Before that, they graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Cinema Studies. While focusing on documentary work regarding social justice in their undergrad, they have since moved on to work on socially charged narrative works, utilizing their film theory background. As a transgender, mixed race, and disabled artist, intersectionality has always and will always be a goal of their films and filmmaking process.
AWARDS
FULL FILM
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Andreá Venitucci is a New York born, Florida raised, Baltimore transplant currently working on their graduate degree in Filmmaking at The Maryland Institute College of Art. Before that, they graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Cinema Studies. While focusing on documentary work regarding social justice in their undergrad, they have since moved on to work on socially charged narrative works, utilizing their film theory background. As a transgender, mixed race, and disabled artist, intersectionality has always and will always be a goal of their films and filmmaking process.
(Update provided in May 2017)