Orson Rehearsed
Orson Welles' heart has just stopped.
We enter his mind in this moment, on the threshold between life and death.
In the bardo Orson’s thoughts unspool as a stream of consciousness that loops back on itself, like a Möbius strip. Three avatars onstage in the theater of his mind are paired with three oneiric films within the film as he shuffles through his memories, loves, regrets, like a magician preparing for one last magic trick.
Is he ready for what comes next?
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Daron HagenDirector
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Daron HagenComposer
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Daron HagenWriter
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Daron HagenEditor
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Daron HagenProducer
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Rudy MarcozziProducer
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Robert OrthKey Cast"Orson Welles"Nixon in China, Ahkenaten
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Robert FrankenberryKey Cast"Orson Welles"Scarpia
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Omar MuleroKey Cast"Orson Welles"
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Project Type:Documentary, Experimental, Feature, Music Video, Other
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Genres:Opera, Experimental
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Runtime:1 hour 2 minutes
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Completion Date:June 20, 2020
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Production Budget:30,000 USD
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Country of Origin:United States
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Black & White and Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Blue Ridge Film FestivalBlue Ridge, GA
United States
February 25, 2021
Streaming
Best Experimental Feature -
American Golden Picture Film FestivalJacksonville, FL
United States
May 1, 2021
Streaming
Best Original Music; Best Editor -
After Hour Film Festival, Season 3Online Festival
United States
November 3, 2020
Best Musical Feature -
Atlanta Award-Qualifying Film FestivalAtlanta, GA
United States
January 23, 2021
Best Art Film -
Chicago Indie Film AwardsChicago, IL
United States
Best U.S. and International Composer -
Crown Wood International Film FestivalKolkata, West Bengal
February 23, 2021
Official Selection -
Global Film FestivalLos Angeles, CA
United States
January 6, 2021
Best Original Score -
Global Music AwardsLa Jolla, CA
United States
January 8, 2021
Silver Medal for Best Original Score / Soundtrack -
Golden Valley Global CinefestWest Bengal
India
October 10, 2020
Best Postmodern Film -
Logcinema Music Film FestivalLos Angeles, CA
United States
December 16, 2020
Best Director & Best Film Soundtrack -
Lonely Wolf London International Film FestivalLondon
United Kingdom
December 22, 2020
Finalist, Best Live-Recorded Theatre Film -
Los Angeles Film AwardsLos Angeles, CA
United States
November 2, 2020
Best Score; Best Musical / Dance Film -
Los Angeles Motion Picture FestivalMalibu, CA
United States
December 6, 2020
Best Composer; Best Director; Best Poster Art; Best Music Video Concept; Best Music Track; Best Musical Performance; Best Score -
LA IndiesLos Angeles, CA
United States
December 20, 2020
Best Composer -
Madras Independent Film FestivalChennai
India
December 3, 2020
Special Mention: Feature Film -
Milan Gold AwardsMilan
Italy
December 5, 2020
Official Selection -
Montreal Independent Film FestivalMontreal
Canada
November 10, 2020
Best Composer -
New Wave Short Film FestivalMunich
Germany
December 2, 2020
Best Film Score -
New York Independent Cinema AwardsNew York, NY
United States
February 7, 2021
Best Director -
The Oaks International Film FestivalAgoura, Ca
United States
January 3, 2021
Best Musical Score -
Prague International Monthly Film FestivalPrague
Czech Republic
March 6, 2021
Finalist -
5th Rosarito International Film FestivalBaja, California
Mexico
Official Selection: Best Director -
Seoul International Short Film FestivalSeoul
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
January 5, 2021
Finalist: Best Film Score -
Sydney Indie Short FestivalSydney
Australia
April 9, 2021
Official Selection -
Tokyo International Short Film FestivalTokyo
Japan
November 26, 2020
Honorable Mention: Best Film Score -
Toronto Film Channel AwardsToronto
Canada
April 23, 2021
Best Composer
Daron Hagen occupies a unique position in American music and independent cinema as both a highly-successful concert music and opera composer and as the auteur director of internationally-laurelled feature-length “operafilms” that combine his own music and screenplays, placing him on the vanguard of a new genre described by OperaWire as “a neo-Gesamtkunstwerk form of opera cinema where each and everything seen on the screen, from the cuts to the lighting to the pacing, reflect the internal motivations of the story.” His films are streaming on Amazon Plus Video, Tubi, Cineverse, Future Today, Reveel, among others, and have been supported by residencies at the Corporation of Yaddo and the Bogliasco Foundation, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award, among others.
I combine elements of cinema and live opera to provide a new mode of expression that celebrates opera's rich performance history and film's rich visual vocabulary. Filming opera singers singing does not make for an opera film. The integration of live vocal performance and pre-shot, recorded, and storyboarded material by a composer who is also directing and editing from their own original story and score does. Otherwise, one is just making another film musical without memorable tunes by actors who've trained their entire lives not to perform to a camera but to a live audience.