| Courtney Fathom Sell | |
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Sell in New York City. April 2011. |
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| Born | Courtney Fathom Sell January 28, 1985 Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
Courtney Fathom Sell (born in Boston, Massachusetts 28 January 1985) is an American underground filmmaker, musician, composer, writer and video artist who specializes in documentary films.[1] He is the founder of Slumlord Productions, an independent film production company, and has shot a majority of his work on a Hi8 video camera.[2]An advocate of D.I.Y. no-budget filmmaking, Sell's writing on the subject has been published in various publications including Filmmaker Magazine [3] and Indiewire, who referred to Sell as being a reincarnation of the young John Waters[4] due to his unconventional approach at making films. Along with documentaries, Sell has directed numerous music videos, commercials, and experimental films.[5][6] He coined the term 'Crash Cinema', to best describe the manner of his guerilla style filmmaking. He is the Co-Founder of ASS Studios alongside writer and artist Rev Jen Miller.[7][8]
Themes for Films, a full length album of Sell's film scores and soundtrack compositions was released in June 2011.[9][10][11]
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After leaving Pratt Institute at the age of 18, Sell began traveling the country with a Hi8 video camera documenting his life on the road.[12] Traveling through 42 states in just a few years, Sell continued to shoot and produce documentaries on little to no budget, supporting himself by working various odd jobs. While living in Northern California, Sell slept in a graveyard and played his guitar on the street for money.[13] Upon his return to New York City, Sell lived in Washington Square Park for a brief amount of time.[14][13][15] During this time, Sell continued to screen his films at various venues in the city and kept the fact that he was residing in the park a secret from friends.[16][17]
Regarding this time, Sell was quoted in an interview with The Village Voice:
"It was fun. It was the first place I went to. I got off the Chinatown bus after running away from home, in Boston. I came for a screening of my films at Cinema Classics on East 11th."[16]
However, in a later interview Sell commented to a Journalist:
"I didn't want to go home, I was stubborn and naïve. It was a lonely feeling."[18]
Soon afterwards, Sell found residence in a Lower East Side apartment alongside other artists and filmmakers whom he frequently collaborated with.[16][19] By the age of twenty, he had produced a number of personal documentaries involving close friends or family members as main subjects.[5][20][21]In his published writing, Sell often discusses the struggles he had encountered while making no-budget films during the beginning of his career. Inspired by filmmakers such as Kenneth Anger, Jack Smith, and Stan Brakhage whom his experimental work has been compared too, Sell spoke in an article of his life as a no-budget filmmaker:
"When you spend every waking hour working on films that most likely will never see the light of day, yet you feel so compelled to continue on, living off of food stamps, sleeping on friends couches, and getting by on tall boys and peanut butter sandwiches, it is a sure sign that you’re in it for the long run"[22]
His debut documentary film No Place Like Home, which documented the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast as well as the growth of New Orleans non-profit organization 'Defend New Orleans', went on to win 'Best Picture' at the 2006 'Blue November Film Festival', in Tulsa Oklahoma,[23] and screen at the Casablanca Theater in Dresden, Germany. Co-produced and featuring 'Defend New Orleans' creator Jac Currie, the film depicts Defend New Orleans’ transition to a valid social aid project and features some of the earliest produced footage of Post Katrina Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans.[24] The film was officially released on DVD in 2008,[25][26] and was the recipient of an Aegis Award later that year.[27]
The film is now recognized by the Danish Film Movement Dogme95 as Dogme95 #267[28]
In 2007, Sell began work on numerous film projects including the short documentary My Dying Day.[29] Centering around the last months of his own Father's life, a Boston Reverend who had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, the documentary went on to win "Best Short Documentary" at the 2007 'Evil City Film Festival',[30] and has gained the support of The Prostate Cancer Foundation, who aired the documentary on their official website in November 2010.[31]
In addition to shooting My Dying Day, Sell began to concentrate on various music based video projects, as documented in his 2007 film Long Way Back To Paradise.[32] He continued pursuing his interest in live performance documentation with his short documentary In The Golden Blood of the Sunlight which was produced a few years later in New Orleans.[33]
In 2009, Sell completed a short documentary entitled Under the Bridge, which is based around a community of homeless individuals from Providence, Rhode Island who created a shelter underneath the Crawford Street Bridge. Revisiting familiar subject matter such as homelessness and alienation, Sell's film features personal interviews with the residents of 'Hope City', as it was being referred to at the time, as well as document their extreme living conditions.[18]
In 2010, Sell co-directed a short documentary alongside filmmaker Billy Feldman entitled The Hole, based around the New York City neighborhood of the same name. The film explores various aspects regarding the conditions of the community and gives personal insight to the lives of some of the residents who still live in the neighborhood, including many members of the Federation of Black Cowboys. The area, which continues to remain flooded and partially abandoned, is now infamous for being a mafia dumping ground.[34] [35] On October 16, 2010, the film premiered at the 4th annual Red Hook Film Festival in Brooklyn, New York, and was awarded 'Best Documentary'.[36] In March 2011, the film was officially released online.[37][38][39] The Documentary screened at the 2011 Rooftop Films Summer Screening Series presented by IFC in August.[40]
In late 2010, Sell completed a short documentary on Portland based Author & Poet Walt Curtis entitled An Afternoon with Walt. The film was later released online.[6]
A collection of Sell's short documentaries were compiled and released on DVD in 2009. [41]
Sell's short film & video work commonly combines experimental techniques with a non-fiction diary film style. Much of his experimental work challenges the perception of the viewer by presenting multi-layered and abstract moving images in order to construct narrative through motion.[42] Some of these films have been referred to as being 'reminiscent of early Stan Brakhage'.[43]
In 2011, Sell began a collaboration with artist Rev Jen Miller, after he directed the promotional video for her upcoming novel 'Elf Girl!' [44]. The two have since launched their own film production company entitled ASS Studios which produces short films & music videos featuring a variety of Art Stars and performers such as Faceboy.[45][46]The company became infamous due to an incident at their official launch party in which audience members were attacked by performers with stun guns. [47]
In 2008, Sell directed the controversial Xiu Xiu music video for their single 'Master of the Bump' off of their album 'Women as Lovers'. The video premiered on Pitchfork TV and has gone on to screen at various Film Festivals across the globe.[48][49][50] The following year, Sell directed the experimental concert documentary entitled Xiu Xiu - You Can't Hear Me, which features a live performance by the band accompanied by various music video vignettes.[51]
He has collaborated on music videos with bands & artists such as The Gentleman Losers[52], Xiu Xiu, Diamondsnake, 3epkano[53], The Singing Knives[54], The Morning Birds, Wires!Wires! & Carl Simmons. In 2010, Sell shot numerous live performance videos for many other bands for the website DNO Video in New Orleans. [55][56][57]
Sell commonly composes and records the soundtrack scores to many of his films, most notably 'My Dying Day', by himself. [58]
In June 2011, Emphasis Entertainment released a compilation album entitled Themes for Films, consisting of 27 instrumental and experimental compositions recorded by Sell for various film soundtracks. According to the linear notes, the tracks included on the album were recorded in various locations in the United States over the course of many years. Some of the songs however are previously unreleased, and have never been included within any of Sell's film work.[59][60]