WAYS TO LOOK AT THE MOON
Cast: Amy Frear, Tony Bolante, Kelvin Smith
Crew: Producers: Amy Frear, Adrian Colón – Screenwriters: Katherine Clark – Executive Producer: Kinohi Nishikawa – Director of Photography: Anthony Berenato Jr. – Sound Design: Dylan Henning – Production Design: Emily R. Johnson – Production Assistant: Melissa Rose De Leon
Email: katherineelisabethclark@gmail.com
Web: www.waystolookatthemoon.com
Synopsis
Sensing their relationship is drifting apart, an artist attempts to reconnect with an astronomer but gets lost in a universe of her own making.
Director
Katherine Elisabeth Clark’s work blends reality, fantasy, and subjective viewpoints, creating narratives that touch the boundaries of magical realism and science fiction. Her shorts have screened at the Academy-Qualifying Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (Directorial Discovery Award), Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival (Best Short Film (US); Best Sci-Fi/Horror Short), Female Eye Film Festival (nominated Best Short), Another Hole in the Head, Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival, and New York City Horror Film Festival, among others. Katherine has been a fellow in Creative Lab Hawaii’s year-long Writers Immersive Program. Katherine also works to increase visibility in local and regional arts. She is the co-founder of PopUp Anthology, a Trenton, NJ-based organization dedicated to supporting the voices of local, independent filmmakers. With PopUp, she has organized and curated screenings that feature numerous regional filmmakers, and has brought local shorts programs to partnering organizations such as Artworks Trenton, Trenton Film Society, Westfield International Film Festival, and Pennsylvania Center for Photography, in addition to Full Spectrum Features in Chicago. She has twice served as a judge at the Westfield International Film Festival, and has led panels on Social Issue Filmmaking at Trenton Film Festival. She has also been involved with the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival and Facets Multimedia. Since 2017, Katherine has worked at Theatre Philadelphia to organize and promote the annual Philly Theatre Week, highlighting over 80 theatre companies and 300 performances in a 10-day period, in addition to the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre Ceremony and Celebration, re-granting over $100,000 to individual artists and companies. Katherine earned her M.F.A. in Film Directing from Columbia College Chicago, and her B.A. from UNC Asheville. She has also attended Masaryk University to conduct research on the Czechoslovak New Wave. She is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina. She now resides in Philadelphia.
Filmmaker’s Note
Ways to Look at the Moon is a story about people who see the world in different ways. Throughout the process of creating this film, I was frequently reminded that the world is an increasingly challenging place. Whether the cause is divisive politics, or a lack of vulnerability and empathy, relationships with those around us seem more and more difficult to maintain. Ways to Look at the Moon allowed me to explore this dynamic through a painter who encounters a DJ, two astronauts, an absent astronomer, and memories of a karaoke night. During the creation of this film, I explored a visual and emotional journey of what it means to feel distant, what it means to connect, and what it means to share an experience. This film is a collaboration of galactic proportions by diverse, multidisciplinary artists across Philadelphia, PA and Trenton, NJ. From organizing a disco dance party during a snowstorm to embodying astronauts by the Delaware River during a cold, windy night, each member of the cast and crew helped to create this visual journey about what it means to desire connection.
