Agility (..or something like it)

Observe the paths of a blind dog, cantankerous local, and mystic ballerina cross on a routine summer day.

  • Garrick Givens
    Director
  • Garrick Givens
    Writer
  • Garrick Givens
    Producer
  • Max
    Key Cast
    "Yorba"
  • Robin Winton
    Key Cast
    "Taye"
  • Steffanie Mahon
    Key Cast
    "Laura"
  • Guy Tillis
    Key Cast
    "Sign Man"
  • Elizabeth Myers
    Key Cast
    "Social Worker"
  • Sachiththa Fernando
    Composer
  • Jean Rahner
    Casting Department
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Experimental, Short, Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    38 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 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
  • Lift-Off Filmmakers Sessions Hosted By @LiftOffGlobalNetwork
    Vimeo On Demand
    June 26, 2023
    Online Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Urban Arts Festival
    Dallas, TX
    United States
    August 11, 2023
    North American Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Serbest International Film Festival
    Comtat
    Moldova, Republic of
    September 5, 2023
    European Premiere
    Semi-Finalist
  • AltFF Alternative Film Festival
    Toronto, ON
    Canada
    September 22, 2023
    Canadian Premiere
    Nominee - Best Writer
  • IDEAL International Film Festival
    Sillod, MH
    India
    October 8, 2023
    Asian Premiere
    Best Experimental Film
  • Bettiah International Film Festival
    Bettiah, Bihar
    India
    May 20, 2024
    Best Experimental Short Film
  • Eastern Europe Film Festival
    Craiova, Județul Dolj
    Romania
    June 30, 2024
    Romanian Premiere
    Best Director (Special Award)
  • Paradise Film Festival
    Budapest, Pest
    Hungary
    July 3, 2024
    Hungarian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Kalakari Film Festival
    Dewas, MP
    India
    August 31, 2024
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Garrick Givens

Avant-garde video-maker, intermedia artist and film theorist (Givens) grew up in Farmington Hills, MI USA; born 1/3/1992.

Givens is a lifelong learner of cinema who has enjoyed the arts and theatre since childhood. In middle school, Givens came to terms with her gender identity but kept it a secret until early adulthood. After graduating from college she was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and remains an advocate for mental health.

In 2014, Givens graduated from Binghamton University with Honors in Cinema and was the Ken Jacobs Scholarship recipient.

Givens has had her films screened in the following places: Unesa International Visual Art Exhibition 2021 (Indonesia) - Tempered Unesa International Visual Art Exhibition 2021 (Indonesia) - Watercolor #3 Animac: International Animation Film Festival 2020 (Spain) - Immobile #3 Animac: International Animation Film Festival 2019 (Spain) - Immobile #2 My Mumbai International Short Film Festival 2018 (India) - Block by Block Mediawave International Art & Music Festival 2016 (Hungary) - Futility Student Cuts International Film Festival 2015 (Slovenia) - Futility Student Experimental Film Festival Binghamton 2014 (USA) - Immobile Vagrant Summer Film Festival 2014 (Belarus) - (41) Schooner Street Centrally Isolated Film Festival 2013 (USA) - (41) Schooner Street And one work has been digitally archived back in 2013; Video Hearts online gallery of the moving image - Pitted

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Director Statement

This film is an adaptation of a feature film script simply titled "Agility".

"Agility (..or something like it)" follows my 2014 debut "Futility" as the second film in the Healing Trilogy. Both are experimental narratives.

"Agility..." utilizes the following techniques: Extreme close-up, jump cuts, double exposure, multiple layered exposure, freeze frame, montage and handheld camera movement.

The film abstractly expounds upon the writings of Edouard Glissant, Poetics of Relations, which can be seen taken from the Cross character's backpack in the second chapter. Instead of detailing the African diaspora I have attempted to depict a story of the internal, or inner, diaspora within our characters lives. How does our search for material possessions or love bind us to an attachment of inner poverty, inner struggle?

Is the search for these things really just a search for the Self? In this search we hope to find Agility, or something like it.