♪♪ On this visit to The Film Lounge -- Three scientists tap into a mysterious message.

A vibrant garment delivers sensory wonders.

The natural world invites us to commune.

We spotlight a southern Iowa film festival.

A wrestler turns pro before our eyes.

And an experimental trip through light and pattern.

♪♪ Grab your popcorn.

The curtain is about to lift at The Film Lounge.

♪♪ Funding for this program was provided by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation, as well as generations of families and friends who feel passionate about the programs they watch on Iowa PBS.

The Film Lounge is produced in partnership with the Iowa Arts Council and Produce Iowa.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hi, I'm Philip Rabalais and I'm from Fairfield, Iowa and I am the Director of Earth FM.

Philip Rabalais: Because I have a background in music, emphasizing the sound design is always on my mind, and specifically kind of surreal sound design that makes the world of the film strange by the sound itself.

That has been a consistent interest across every project I've done.

But Earth FM was the first time that it was explicitly about listening, the characters, the scientists are listening.

The whole thing was structured as kind of like a nudge or like an invitation to have listening be the primary focus.

These scientists are listening to the planet and what they get out of that or what you get out of that as an audience is abstract, it is intentionally and hopefully abstract, but I hope in a sense cathartic.

Philip Rabalais: Earth FM was the first time that I had more than two actors in a film, which is kind of ridiculous.

But I wanted to have a film that was structured this way where it's like these little kind of vignettes that are interplaying with each other and slowly sort of come together.

I think this is across-the-board with movies that I make and I'm interested in making.

I really crave this phenomenon where I have a kind of cathartic, emotional experience with a movie but I can't fully identify what narratively has like created this catharsis.

And I associate this a lot with music because could you clearly identify what about X song, how it affects you?

And so I think for me I'm trying to find that in film form where there is a narrative and there is a world around the film but it leads to this point of catharsis that is a little more abstract and a little bit harder to pin down or define.

I think for me that final song in Earth FM unlocked that.

(unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) ♪♪ (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) ♪♪ (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (dog barking) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) (unidentifiable sound) ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hello, my name is Cynthia O'Hern.

I reside in Des Moines, Iowa and I am a fiber artist and the garment maker on A Seussian Trip.

Hi, my name is Katie Jensen and I am an artist living in Des Moines, Iowa and I am the model on A Seussian Trip.

Hello, my name is Bruce James Bales.

I live in Des Moines, Iowa.

And I was the cinematographer and editor on A Seussian Trip.

♪♪ Cynthia O'Hern: I created the garment that was the inspiration for A Seussian Trip.

This garment was initially meant for a runway, it was going to be an avant-garde runway piece.

But because of the pandemic we had to pivot and I had to figure out a way to showcase the garment that was not in person.

And I had always wanted to make a fashion film.

I have been making clothing for years and never really had the impetus to do it.

But the pandemic actually provided that and it was a great way to get out of my studio and collaborate with other Des Moines artists that I respect.

Bruce James Bales: Well, since this garment was originally intended for a runway, I was looking for runway like pieces of land that actually looked like a runway.

Ewing Park came to mind because of the beautiful lilacs and just the colors.

And then Easter Lake also had like a runway-like structure sort of jutting out into the lake itself.

Really everything was based on the natural world and trying to take this sort of indoor runway look and take it out into the natural world.

Katie Jensen: I wanted to do something different.

It was my first time doing a fashion film.

So I didn't quite know what to expect.

I had done a little bit of modeling before.

Luckily I knew Cindy well and I really felt a deep connection to the garment.

It kind of reminded me of being a little kid again and playing dress up and I really did get to embody that youth and sense of wonder and curiosity as I was modeling the garment.

Cynthia O'Hern: The garment itself took a lot of inspiration from Dr. Seuss, not just in the color and style, but also thematically.

So just as Dr. Seuss created these whimsical, wonderful worlds that also had a story underlying them, we wanted to create a fantastical landscape for Katie to meander through and to inspire a sense of awe in viewers as you watch her reconnect with nature.

Also to have viewers pause and sort of consider that the choices we make in our creative practices have an effect on the environment as well.

So the garment was made from completely sustainable art practices, it was made from upcycled clothing.

So I wanted sort of a tone of environmental consciousness to be underlying the film as well.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hi, my name is Antoinette Lavalle.

I am from Des Moines, Iowa and my film is titled Green Witch.

♪♪ Antoinette Lavalle: It was for a school project.

It was filmed on a 16mm Bolex film camera.

It is about, well it is inspired by the writings of Arin Murphy-Hiscock's book, Green Witch and my own writings as well.

And so it's kind of a visual diary of those writings and really it's about reconnecting with nature and ideally being able to live in harmony with nature as well.

Antoinette Lavalle: So, I was born and raised in Des Moines so I always have this connection here.

I went to undergrad for business art and then I just wasn't completely happy with everything that I learned there, I just felt something was missing.

So I went back to school for film production as the The New School in New York and it was nice because at that school I could just focus in on film.

Antoinette Lavalle: So, the film was shot in Connecticut.

I shot in Connecticut just because that was the closest to me being in New York City, that's where I felt like I could be in nature.

And so I felt -- I had some family up there that could help me carry my tripods around and there were just so many beautiful spots in Connecticut.

Within the project we had kind of like full freedom to do whatever we wanted.

We were able to have two film cartridges to use up and then I had to learn how to rig lighting right and I had to make sure that things were in focus.

So, shooting on the Bolex was stressful but it was kind of fun.

And it's like a pat on the back when you get it right.

And you can practice and film is expensive so you can't practice that much, but you can just like kind of know what you're doing but then like at the end of the day I feel like luck also kind of plays into it.

What begins of my backyard will reach the lives I cannot begin to see or know.

Antoinette Lavalle: I don't know if I got that sense of like victory or that a-ha moment right away.

I do think after I got the film back and you kind of wait around for a couple of weeks, that's when I was like oh yeah, like a little pat on the back, like we're going to have something here.

The roll didn't come back completely blank, like there's something we can work with.

So I would say it was a little bit delayed.

It wasn't that instant gratification but yeah, over time.

Spirit of nature, elements around me.

Nurture and guard me as I walk the path of the Green Witch.

May my every action be for the good of all.

For humanity and nature alike.

Bring me wisdom, peace, serenity and balance as I walk this path.

(water rushing) (water rushing) Remind me that what I do and the decisions I make affect the world.

What begins of my backyard will reach the lives I cannot begin to see or know.

(water rushing) (water rushing) Remind me that one size or lack of voice doesn't determine their intrinsic value.

(water rushing) That we all have the right to live and share the Earth regardless of shape, color or size.

(water rushing) (water rushing) Grant me the confidence to do the work you require of me and strength to bear the burdens -- (water rushing) While knowing that I am truly educated when I live in harmony with the Earth.

Carrying the words from woodpecker with me always.

(water rushing) I swear to guard the soul of nature, to work with nature, to honor nature and all who compose nature's multitude.

These things I promise and this I ask of you.

On this day, in this place, as a Green Witch I so swear.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Tadd Good: We are in our ninth year.

The Snake Alley Fest of Film is a short film festival that runs four days long.

This year we feature 124 short films spanning from noon until 10pm every day.

All kinds of genres, we have animation, horror, drama, comedy, anything that you can possibly think of and stuff you can't think of.

And we also feature short screenplay table reads, we have actors come down, it's always a blast.

♪♪ Reading ... Michelle!

Elise a midwife in her late forties -- ♪♪ Kara Ewinger: When you're a screenplay writer it is very important to hear actors read your work.

It might look good and sound good on paper, but actually having actors read it out loud can give you a different feel.

You might go back and do a different draft.

And our festival we work with screenplays that are not in production yet.

Nothing that could explain the episode you described.

Tadd Good: We do get a lot of local actors.

We have a local theatre production company here called Players Workshop, we get some actors from there.

And sometimes sort of in the chaos we get people cancel last minute so we grab people right out from the audience to do it and people who had no idea that they have an acting bug suddenly get bit by it and it gets a little chaotic sometimes but it's a lot of fun.

You have to get out of here.

I can't, I can't.

I'm not leaving without you Hallie.

Jeremy Ferguson: I have before, but not today.

My kids will be reading some of the screenplays though.

So that is cool to get them a little taste of the film festival.

Hallie!

What were you doing?

What were you thinking?

Jeremy Ferguson: I actually help with the film festival in Muscatine and I kind of want to add screenwriting because I'm a screenwriter.

A lot of places that do have the screenwriting, they don't get to read it in front of the public.

It's just, they read it and that's it and then they send you either you win or you don't.

So I enjoy this very much.

I think it should be at every festival.

No, don't!

Martha, we can't stay here.

Who knows, the Germans might kill us on sight, maybe everyone.

The other two men in the cellar kiss their families and climb over others to the cellar door.

Don't leave us, please!

The two men crack open the door and turn back to Michelle.

We'll run to the factory and hide there.

Tadd Good: We get a lot of repeat filmmakers.

What is really cool with the screenplays is that someone will come down with a short screenplay one year, they'll meet a director who is very interested in that screenplay and then a year or two later they'll come back with the film version of it and they didn't know each other before they met at this festival.

We've had that happen several times and that is one of my favorite things about the festival.

Kara Ewinger: Well, what's great about our festival is all the films screen in one theatre and then we have this beautiful annex that they can network in afterwards, whereas some festivals you have several theatres, screenings, scattered around town.

♪♪ Kara Ewinger: So, Burlington Capitol Theatre will celebrate its 10th anniversary next summer of being re-opened.

It opened in 1937 and was a motion picture house until the 70's when it closed down.

And the community came together 10 years ago and renovated it and it has been a community space for the arts in our community and for traveling artists as well ever since.

♪♪ Jeremy Ferguson: I love the theatre.

If you can have a chance to go throughout the whole place I would take that chance.

It's very cool, very old, little nooks and crannies that you don't see just watching movies.

So, I wish all film festivals were in theatres like this.

Allie Goodell: I started filmmaking when I was 12 and then I decided I could make it a career by going to college and studying film.

♪♪ Allie Goodell: I haven't had much experience with film festivals.

Actually this is the first one that I have been entered into.

I've only submitted to about three or so.

So, we actually filmed this in Grace's apartment.

♪♪ Allie Goodell: It's pretty exciting.

It was fun doing the Q&A.

I felt more professional than I usually do as a filmmaker.

I feel like I've actually done something now.

It feels good to be recognized.

♪♪ Jeremy Ferguson: I had a film a few years back in 2016 called Allison Red.

It was a World War II film.

It actually won viewer's choice, which really shocked me.

I actually then took that into a feature and just love coming here, love the turnout, love the people here.

So why not come again?

Kara Ewinger: I love short films and I love the short film format and festivals.

Doing a short is incredibly difficult.

To tell a good story in a short amount of time is a challenge that I love supporting.

So being able to help out fellow filmmakers and get to be part of their creative process and get to support their work, they get to showcase their films at this beautiful, beautiful screen.

There's something special about being able to watch a film together in the same room and then talking about it afterwards in person.

♪♪ Hello, my name is Conner Hopkins.

I am from Decorah, Iowa.

I am a filmmaker and I am the creator of Debut.

♪♪ Conner Hopkins: This story is about this young man, Braeden, as he'll soon be known, Damien, about him journeying from his last few days of training to be a professional wrestler and then following him up to his first match and a little bit of the aftermath after that.

But really what I think this film is about is a subculture that doesn't get analyzed very often, the world of professional wrestling and sort of the spectacle and everything that goes into being a professional wrestler.

It's your story of an event, of a big event happening, but at the same time it's also kind of a story of an important moment in someone's life.

Conner Hopkins: Here at Luther thankfully we are allowed and encouraged to sort of come up with our own projects.

One that gets done commonly is create a documentary film as sort of a capstone.

Unfortunately, the week that I was scheduled to begin production on that film for that class, we got sent home from Luther and the pandemic sort of ended everything.

So I had this movie about pro wrestling written and I knew that I wanted to get it made.

And so it just luckily turned out my friend Braeden was set to have his first match.

Conner Hopkins: I wanted to tell people about this thing that I do every weekend without having to resort to jokes about it like I usually do.

I'm always responding with something like, yeah I dress up in tights and I hit people in the head with chairs every weekend.

And what I really wanted to do with this film is show people that it's a little bit more than that, that there actually is an emotional connection and a subculture and a group of people that genuinely enjoy doing this.

Kind of quickly what it turned into was what I hope is a little bit of an inspirational message just for people who have that dream that they want to accomplish.

My debut is in two weeks.

I have waited two years for this.

And I'll be damned if I'm going to wait two years to start wrestling just to be told I'm not good enough to keep doing this.

One of my biggest fears in pro wrestling is being, just not being good.

I'm not going to let that happen.

This is my dream, this is my passion, this is the end of the road.

♪♪ ♪♪ My name is Braeden Bend and I am going to be a professional wrestler.

Braeden Bend: My debut is Saturday, September 12th, 2020.

Hello?

Hi.

Braeden Bend: When I first got into wrestling I was three years old.

I was watching the television as my brother was watching wrestling and that was it.

Actually I do have the precise moment that I knew then on I was going to be a professional wrestler.

I was watching a show, a dream wave wrestling show in Illinois.

It was the final dream wave show and it was the final match and all the wrestlers came out from the locker room and we all swarmed the ring as the final pin was being counted.

And I looked around and saw the atmosphere and was like, I want to create moments like these for a living.

One, two -- Braeden Bend: I actually started just following my brother to shows.

He had already trained at ZOWA.

I just helped set up and I would sit at the merch table or sometimes front row and just help tear down and set up.

And then all of a sudden Zeke made me a referee and I've been doing that ever since.

Braeden Bend: I started training in February of 2020 and we all know how 2020 went.

So I've been training ever since minus three months in there.

Training has been one of the most amazing experiences ever.

I have been able to train with people that I grew up watching and even some that I've seen on TV.

And it's just, it feels really rewarding to finally be able to learn something that I've always wanted to do.

Braeden Bend: Honestly, I'm most nervous about the crowd just not caring, which I think we have a little help with our family being in the crowd.

But beyond anything I can do all the cool s#*#*#* in the world but if the crowd doesn't care then why would I care?

There's been many a nights where we would just, he would text me or I would text him and see what's going on and we would come to this ring at one in the morning just to come up here and think of spots to do and think of structuring and I would definitely be thinking all the time at work of like what I wanted to do and slowly piecing it together with my trainer, getting it to where it makes sense.

And we have it down now and even nitpicked at this point.

So we've been preparing for a couple of months now, ever since we found out that it was going to be us.

So, I'm excited.

Braeden Bend: I know as soon as either one of our music hits, especially mine, it's, my heart is probably going to drop because it's like, this is it.

But overall I'm feeling pretty good.

Braeden Bend: Beginning of the show day is basically me and a couple of the other guy will meet up with the promoter to grab the ring.

We'll go to the venue and set up the ring and get the cross cables tightened, the ropes tightened correctly, make sure that the ring is set up safely for the performers on the show.

Yeah, basically just making sure everything is show ready, getting the curtain up, all the sound equipment up and making sure we put on a good production.

Braeden Bend: Wrestling is very, very old school.

Going into the locker room, new guys or old guys doesn't matter, you shake their hand, you say hello to everybody, you pay your respects to the people who have come before you and even then the people who came before will pay their respects to the people who will come after them.

It's a very respect-based business.

We're setting up the ring.

We're getting the side support beams in to where we can set up the beams and boards.

Braeden Bend: Well, not quite the day I was looking for.

But we'll get through it.

Putting on the ropes.

Braeden Bend: I know that the closer I get, the more nervous I get, even though I know that we have this match down and I, yeah, the closer we get the more nervous I get.

Braeden Bend: My character is Quickdraw Damien.

The idea behind the character is that I am not stronger than my opponent but I will be quicker to the draw and also using a metaphor of a sharp shooter to portray the fact that I am a technical wrestler.

I'm a little nervous, I'll be honest.

But I think we got it.

I think once we get going we'll be fine.

Braeden Bend: Honestly, the only thing that was in my mind was here we go.

And from the moment that I stepped out of the curtain and got into the ring, until the match started it felt like I was genuinely dreaming.

Like it did not feel real at all.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Braeden Bend: Man, the feeling I had right at the end when Gage was coming up and he had my leg in his hands, I knew that we had pulled it off and I was looking up at the sky, I felt very satisfied with how it had gone.

And it was very, it was a rush of contentment.

I'm so proud of you, man.

You just killed this crowd, that's what you did.

That went well, that went perfectly how I envisioned it.

I'm sure when I actually see it then I'll notice something I didn't quite like.

But as far as my perspective goes, we killed it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Braeden Bend: Having my family there was very special.

Seeing the reaction, going out in intermission and talking to them it felt like they had finally seen hey, he might have a chance at this.

This is his dream and I see how happy it makes him.

It felt very nice for them to finally see that.

I feel pretty good.

I feel at peace in a way.

I don't know, it's a strange feeling.

I'm excited for what this crazy, crazy business has in store for me in the coming years.

Braeden Bend: I'll catch myself listening to people talking and one of the vets will be like hey, is that ring torn down yet?

And I just, I was caught up in the moment listening to the stories that I didn't realize that I still have to pay my dues, I still have to tear down the ring, set up the ring and basically do all the grunt work for now basically.

(car engine starts) How do you think last Saturday went?

Braeden Bend: Honestly, everything considered it went about as well as it could have possibly and I am very, very happy with how last weekend turned out.

Braeden Bend: I'm hoping that I can do big things in this business.

And I'll only get better with time.

And so the notes that I received after my first match I will take and apply to the next match and rinse and repeat.

And so I'm very, very excited about the future and my future in professional wrestling.

I know right now what I need to improve on in wrestling is being more vocal and more verbal with the audience, focusing less on what I'm doing and applying it to make sense why I'm doing it to give the audience a better experience.

I'll probably be learning things for years to come, like that will never stop.

I'll never stop learning when it comes to wrestling.

Braeden Bend: What's next for me in wrestling?

That's a difficult question because you never know what the future holds.

I know right now I plan to wrestle for ZOWA and hopefully start traveling to other promotions and hopefully if the country ever opens up again I can start traveling more and more.

Basically just I want to wrestle everywhere.

Braeden Bend: It's kind of hard to put into words how much wrestling means to me.

It has been a home away from home that I never thought was quite possible.

It has given me memories that are irreplaceable and yeah, it just means the world to me.

♪♪ Braeden Bend: I feel like I finally proved all the naysayers wrong, everyone who has told me I either couldn't or shouldn't do this and now I have.

I've been a ref for two years and I've always known while reffing that I wanted to be a wrestler.

And now that I am a wrestler I feel accomplished.

Wrestling has always been the ultimate goal for me and I finally have that and it is genuinely the best job I ever had and I wouldn't want it any other way.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Hello, my name is Amenda Tate.

I am an interdisciplinary artist in Des Moines, Iowa.

The name of my piece is The Atmosphere.

Amenda Tate: The Atmosphere is an experimental short film originally not intended to be a short film at all.

During early in the pandemic I had to shift my focus a bit.

Previous to that I did a lot of participatory practices and collaborative art making and meaning making and really had to find some new ways to work more independently.

Amenda Tate: So this film was a series of experiments that I did in my dining room really just trying to see how the interplay of the media was working with movement.

And this was, I was doing a series of practices or experimentations in preparation to make my first short film.

And so some of these experiments ended up shaping into short films like this one that I set to music.

♪♪ Amenda Tate: Once I sat down and looked at the footage I was like, oh this is, what if I just cut it together and it just really kind of naturally lent itself to having this shape.

Amenda Tate: What I learned is that I really approach digital media and film and performance for video very much from the eyes of an artist, almost like a collage maker or a collage maker that is, a collage that is unfolding over time.

So I really view it ultimately as a visual experience much in the way that you would look at a work of art rather than being something narrative or storytelling, so more that it creates a mood or maybe an atmosphere or an essence.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Funding for this program was provided by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation, as well as generations of families and friends who feel passionate about the programs they watch on Iowa PBS.

The Film Lounge is produced in partnership with the Iowa Arts Council and Produce Iowa.