Experiencing Interruptions?

The Greta Grimgart Memorial Burlesque

Official selection: Paris Lift-off Film Festival, Mountainview International Film Festival (winner); Toronto Life-off Film Festival
A Hoffmannesque vaudeville framed as a memorial, peering into the dark crevices of a doomed heart and trying to decipher the indecipherable. And, of course, a healthy dollop of self-justification masking a need for absolution.
The grotesques dance on the beauty's grave.

  • Benjamin R. Hoke
    Director
    Directed "The Last Letter" official selection at the International Horror Film Festival, where it was described as: "...push(es) the boundaries of creative expression and dazzle(s) the senses.". Also selected for Dramatic Shorts Film Festival. Film "Sequence/Orpheus" selected by The Experintal Film and Music Video Festival (Toronto)."Grimgart Burlesque" long running Manhattan cable show featuring experimental films, video journalism and live performance. Professional videographer for over ten years. Video links on request.
  • Margaret Trigg, David Leopold
    Writer
  • Benjamin R. Hoke
    Producer
  • Margaret Trigg
    Key Cast
    "Greta Grimgart"
    Starred in "Aliens in the Family" (ABC/Jim Henson Prods.) Starred in cult horror film "R.O.T.O.R." "Girls Night Out" on Comedy Central; "No Shame" (Public Theatre).
  • David Leopold
    Key Cast
    "The Mourners"
    Lead in "One" (Lincoln CenterTheatre: American Living Room Series); lead in "Grave Robbers Over Hollywood" and the Ghost in "Hamlet" (West End Theatre); twin pornographers in "Split" (Brain.inc).
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    noir, memory
  • Runtime:
    26 minutes 31 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 18, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Benjamin R. Hoke

Directed "The Last Letter" official selection of the International Horror Film Festival, the Dramatic Shorts Film Festival, Cult Films International Film Festival (finalist), the Cult Movie Awards Film Festival (finalist) , the Virgin Spring Ciefest (finalist) the The Knight of the Reel Film Festival (finalist), Tagore International Film Festival. and Druk International Film Festival. Directed "Sequence/Orpheus" official selection The Experimental Film and Music Video Festival (Toronto). Colortape International Film Festival, Knight of the Reel Film Festival and Druk International Film festival, Directed "Three Minor Prophets" official selection: Odyssey Fest (Hardfaith Productions) and Royal Society of Television and Motion Picture Awards. Directed "Grimgart Burlesque:webisodes" official selection Mountainview International Film Festival. Black Swan International Film Festival and World Film Circus (Singapore). L.A. Lift-Off Film Festival and Sydney Australian Film Festival
Born in town of "Two Egg" on the Florida panhandle; educated sporadically at Tulane and FSU before heading north during the great radical migration. In New York, worked as artist (storyboards for ad agencies), actor (Lincoln Center Theatre: The American living Room Series, Manhattan Theatre Club, La Mama etc., NJ Shakespeare Festival, Judson Poets, PBS TV, WBAI radio, summer stock etc.) Original works at the Public Theatre (No Shame) the Nuyoricans Poets Cafe and under the auspices of Composers Collaborative, Inc and The Genesius Guild. Wrote for DiscDish magazine. Long running Village variety series "Ave. A Conspiracy" which the Voice called "...a lower east side vaudevillian extravaganza..." and termed Grimgart "the prince of perversion himself..."

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Director Statement

Directing video is a realization. Clips are objects I like to assemble in a design on the screen like a collage. Images overlap, sounds blend and the real story emerges. Of course, it takes real writing, real camerawork and real acting to get that all that started.