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Clear Creek

A dust storm, a shoot out and endless horizons. Two women dance through iconic western images and into something new: a moving portrait of home, land and memory as illuminated by the voices of a rural Wyoming community.

  • Kate Elias
    Directors/Choreographers/Dancers
  • Ellen Smith Ahern
    Directors/Choreographers/Dancers
  • Tori Lawrence
    Cinematopher/Editor
  • Vicki Brown
    Composer
  • Lynne & Mike Latham
    Community Voices
  • Billie Little
    Community Voices
  • Tim McCleary
    Community Voices
  • Brian Mealor
    Community Voices
  • Misty Stoll
    Community Voices
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Other
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 31 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    6,000 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:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Experimental Forum
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Honorable Mention 2020
  • Dance on Camera Festival / Film at Lincoln Center
    New York
    United States
    July 20, 2020
    World Premiere
    Special Program, Dance Films Presents: Production Grant Honorees
  • YoFiFest 2020
    Yonkers
    United States
    November 7, 2020
    Official Selection
  • 17 Days Video Series
    Kalamazoo, MI; Alfred, NY
    United States
    November 3, 2020
    Official Selection
  • 2020 Mixed Media Virtual Symposium: Vermont/New Hampshire Filmmakers Festival
    VT/NH
    United States
    November 14, 2020
    Official Selection
  • FilmFest by Rogue Dancer

    Official Selection
  • YoFiFest 2020

    Audience Choice Award: Honorable Mention
  • McMinnville Short Film Festival 2021
    McMinnville, OR
    United States
    February 20, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Idaho Screendance Festival 2020/21
    Boise, ID
    United States
    May 13, 2021
    Official Selection
  • Best Short Fest 2021
    Ontario
    Canada
    September 24, 2021
    Semi-Finalist
  • Thomas Edison Film Festival 2022
    Hoboken, New Jersery
    March 1, 2022
    Director's Choice Award
  • The National Gallery of Art, Thomas Edison Film Festival 2022
    Washington DC
    United States
    August 13, 2022
  • Wild Dogs International Screendance Festival
    Calgary
    Canada
    September 17, 2022
    Official Selection
  • White Mountains Art Festival
    New Hampshire
    United States
    September 17, 2022
    Official Selection
Director Biography

Ellen Smith Ahern is a dance artist and first-time filmmaker who explores the intersections of movement, storytelling and nature. She has worked closely with dance companies in the northeastern US and in Mexico, performing and teaching around the world. Ellen also practices social work, organizing with communities in northern New England for food justice and racial equity.

Ellen collaborates with Kate Elias, fellow dancer, filmmaker and social worker, and filmmaker, Tori Lawrence. Their film, Clear Creek, pairs women’s dancing bodies with the landscape and voices of a rural Wyoming community to create a moving portrait of human experience in relationship to the earth. Clear Creek has received support from Dance Films Association, New England Foundation for the Arts, Ucross Foundation and Coginchaug Valley Education Foundation.

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