Before a short film by Hans Stiritz


Can the present change the past? We often look to the past to discover more about who we are today, but objectivity is difficult to achieve when our view of the past is colored by our present experience.

Late in 2003, the filmmaker rediscovered some 8mm film that his German grandmother had shot during several trips traveling to see his family in America in the late-60's/early-70's. "Sifting through all the film," he explains, "I noticed that she always included several shots of airports and airplanes for each visit. Flying on the big jets was still something special in that day."

Using this "archival film," BEFORE takes a nostalgic look at one family's vision of the golden age of the "Jet Set" and the magic of flight, and considers how world events can cast new light (or shadow) on cherished memories.


Screenings

Little Rock Film Festival (May 18-20, 2007)

Gem Theater (Heber Springs, AR) (May 13, 2006)

First Look Film Series (Fayetteville, AR) (April 1-2, 2006)

IndieMemphis (Memphis, TN) (October 27, 2005)

Market Street Cinema (Little Rock, AR) (October 8, 2005)

Port Townsend Film Festival (September 23-25, 2005)

Flickerings Short Film Showcase - Cornerstone (Music and Arts) Festival (June 30-July 3, 2005)

Ozark Foothills Film Festival (April 1-17, 2005)



Press

"Saturday we were part of a panel for the Open Screening portion of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. We were especially moved by a couple of shorts...including “Before,”...a piece by...composer Hans Stiritz in which he pieced together old Super 8 films taken by his family as they traveled on airplanes.... Stiritz’s powerful music rose to a crescendo [at] the payoff."

Jim Harris - Arkansas Times - Nov. 4, 2004
"Hans Stiritz...has crafted a powerful, evocative first film called “Before” from the found video of his relatives’ home movie footage taken of (and from) commercial airliners in the late 1960’s and 1970’s. He composed a mournful, throbbing score for the film.... On the off chance that you get to see the film...I won’t say anything more about it, other than it was beautifully realized."
Philip Martin - “On Film” column - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Nov. 12, 2004

"One of the best short films I saw last year"

Philip Martin - “On Film” column - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Mar. 4, 2005


About the Filmmaker

Hans Stiritz (Producer/Editor/Composer)

Born in France, and raised in the USA, Hans Stiritz has worked as a composer for 20 years creating music scores across the nation and around the world for commercial, dramatic, and documentary film. He was awarded a 2004 Artist Fellowship by the Arkansas Arts Council in recognition of his compositions of concert/chamber music. "Before" is his first work as a filmmaker (not counting home movies starring his immediate family). Stiritz resides in Arkansas with his wife and five children.


About the Film

4:3, color, stereo
running time: 4 min 55 sec
experimental, documentary


Contact

Hans Stiritz, 479-970-1397

e-mail contact

image4image1image3image2


©2011 Evening Films LLC