Experiencing Interruptions?

War

Mini-gladiators locked in an epic battle.

  • Catherine Chalmers
    Director
  • Catherine Chalmers
    Producer
  • Atta cephalotes
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Nature
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 38 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 20, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Costa Rica
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Catherine Chalmers

Catherine Chalmers, a Guggenheim Fellow, holds a B.S. Engineering, Stanford University and an M.F.A. Painting, Royal College of Art, London. She has exhibited her artwork widely, including MoMA P.S.1; MassMoca; and Kunsthalle Vienna. Two books have been published by Aperture on her work: FOOD CHAIN and AMERICAN COCKROACH. Her video Safari won Best Experimental Short at SXSW Film Feestival in 2008. Her video Leafcutters won Best Environmental Short at the 2018 Natourale Film Festival in Wiesbaden, Germany and in 2019 it won the Gil Omenn Art & Science Award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. She lives In New York City.

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Director Statement

I refer to myself as an artist. But, perhaps it’s more accurate to say I’m part of an art collective. I never work alone. My colleagues just don’t happen to be human. Early on I raised my collaborators in the studio, fed them, housed them. The dialogue was between me and the cockroach, me and the praying mantis. But, with the Leafcutters project, the exchange is between me and millions of wild ants.

My work is at the intersection of art, science and nature. I do extensive research for each of my long-term, multimedia projects and a direct engagement with the natural world is central to my what I do. My work aims to give form to the richness, as well as the brutality and indifference that often characterize our relationship with animals.

I use the narrative possibilities of the visual arts to bridge the increasing rift between humanity and the ecosystem and to creatively engage with the systems that support life on earth. Our culture is far richer with the consideration and inclusion of other life forms.