Talena Sanders
2021
Eastern State
Talena Sanders
Stemming from a found archive of decades of footage documenting the lives of the patients and employees of one of the oldest mental health institutions in the US, Eastern State seeks the moments when the source materials start communicating something outside their intended purpose. *flicker warning
Eastern State
Between My Flesh and the World's Fingers
Talena Sanders
Reconstructed through Super 8 as if it was actual found footage, with documents, newspapers and readings superimposed, this is the fascinating story of lesbian poet, film pioneer and provocateur Mary MacLane, who in the early 1900s was dubbed the Wild Woman of Butte, Montana. She resisted the categorisation and prejudice of the day through the creation of multiple versions of herself.
Between My Flesh and the World's Fingers
Liahona
Talena Sanders
Liahona is an experimental documentary examining the culture, history, and lived experience of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, often referred to as the Mormon faith. The film creates a portrait of Mormonism through documentation of LDS cultural dominance in Utah, the suppressed history of folk magic in the early church, landmark Mormon life experiences, and my personal history and connection to the church. Found media with the voices of outsiders and insiders illuminate a religion that intrigues many, but is seen as mysterious or inaccessible. Liahona shifts through perspectives on the faith – from reverence to questioning, presenting the complexities of the vast institution of Mormonism contrasted with the tenuity of individual faith.
Liahona
