A documentary about an Iowa artist who made his career from two antique photo albums that he found in the trash. It has been four years since he originally found the two photo albums and since then he has had featured exhibits around the country. This is the first film in the MADE IN IOWA documentary series.
In this experimental short film, Kristian Day collected artwork created by the public. He found the majority of the pieces at "Sharpie marker demonstration tables" and it took almost a year to collect the artwork. All pieces were created by chance with no prior thought. He originally intended on using the photos for a collage canvas piece, however after deciding that a short film would stand the test of time longer, he took individual shots of over 30 pieces. The drone music was created using a variety of simple sound generators & tapes that are being manipulated by delays, filters, and reverberation effects.
The film tells the story of a woman reflecting on a painful part of her past as she writes. Although we do not see what she has written, we do see her broken memories.
A short film starring Vanessa Gisselle (Mayans MC) filmed in 2009. A minor slasher shot around Des Moines, Iowa.
A short film collaboration between director Kristian Day and make up artist Patrick Boltinghouse. Patrick had created the make up for Pride Weekend 2010 in Des Moines, Iowa. After the parade, he called Kristian up explaining that he was in make up and had a bird on his shoulder. Kristian's only reply was "I'll get the camera ready". Filmed entire in his home, Kristian made two versions: a single play version and a "locked groove" version which played on a loop at the Resident Artists: Guns Blazin' show on July 9th, 2010 in Des Moines.
An essay style film in the vein of Orson Welles' "F For Fake" and Jon Jost's "Speaking Directly". From 2011 to 2013, filmmaker Kristian Day randomly documented the art and actions of the award winning metal sculptor, James Bearden. Refusing to make another artist documentary, Day insisted on illustrating Bearden's creative process through surreal and id oriented story telling.
Set in the backwoods of rural Iowa, this is Regan and Addisyn's last summer after high school. Growing up next door to each other, the girls are as close as sisters. The two of them spend their summer detasseling corn at a local farm. Addisyn can't wait to leave their small hometown for college, while Regan has second thoughts. In between work, Addisyn is forced to manage her mother's recovery from opioid addiction while taking care of her little sister. Regan's feelings about leaving home are only made more complicated when she connects with Addisyn's attractive older brother, Ryder. As summer draws to a close, the girls must face their paths forward-for the first time--on their own.
It's the end of the summer of 1994 and life is about to change for two boys on a farm.
A self portrait filmed with a modified PXL 2000 Camcorder. The camcorder itself records on to audio cassette tape. The tapes themselves are recycled which means I have recorded over them several causing them to slowly degrade.
A collection of personal anecdotes from those who have navigated through a tumultuous year in America.
The shots used in this piece were from first test shots with the Mobile Phone 60x microscope. Subjects included the fur of a cat, hair of a girl, a cutting board, and a ball of cat fur that was burned with an incense stick. Unfortunately, during the final shot the flame melted part of the microscope lens.
A teenage runaway and a widowed father each fight to take matters into their own hands to redeem their dark past.
A woman returns to her hometown for her father's funeral. A couple strike a deal with her to help her fund the funeral service.
A quiet ukeleleist and his talkative manager struggle to realize their artistic vision in this comic story of loss and friendship.
A Local Iowa documentary about the history of trophy to the Cy-Hawk games.
Denese Joy Becker, a manicurist living in Iowa, discovers she is indeed Dominga Sic Ruiz, a survivor from a 1982 Guatemalan massacre, when more than 200 people were killed in the small village of Rio Negro, after opposing the construction of a dam, sponsored by World Bank. She then tries to unveil the truth.
The documentary follows two high school seniors as they attempt to win the State Wrestling Championship in their final season and join the elite list of Iowa's four-time wrestling champions.
The true story of Bill Sackter's emergence from lifelong institutionalization, to become an international hero for people with disabilities.
Professor David Salt's guilty secrets draw him to the fabled town of Villisca. Past and present collide as he is driven to help the trapped spirits and seek his own redemption.
State of Bacon tells the kinda real but mostly fake tale of an oddball group of characters leading up to the annual Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival. Bacon-enthusiasts, Governor Branstad, a bacon queen, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, members of PETA, and an envoy of Icelanders are not excluded from this bacon party and during the course of the film become intertwined with the organizers of the festival to show that bacon diplomacy is not dead.