Powerful events, whether historic or personal, divert the path to the future
and produce ripples of change in their aftermath. In the face of sudden
disruption and inexplicable loss, there is a strong need to bridge the irreplaceable
past with a hopeful future. Objects and Memory presents stories of people
preserving and offering meaningful objects. Through this we see how the
tangible can represent the intangible and, the deeply personal can reveal
great truths about the human spirit. Thematically, the film mirrors the
process of healing after a traumatic historical event. Beginning soon after
September 11, 2001, and guided by the narration of Frank Langella, the film
follows, verité style, the efforts of museum curators and everyday folk
who were driven to collect and preserve objects that, once ordinary, are
now irreplaceable.
These scenes are interspersed with searching high-definition montages of
the objects, along with testimonials about personally meaningful items.
The impulse to keep and to offer meaningful objects - to memorialize, to
find perspective, and to express emotion - is also explored in the context
of other recent traumatic national events and memorials: the Vietnam Veterans'
Memorial and the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The music of Philip Glass
accompanies the high-definition imagery. In presenting meaningful physical
symbols - those that speak, those that reach out, and those that heal -
and their stories, in the unusually dramatic setting of their retrieval,
Objects and Memory explores the things we most value. Without the objects,
the stories would lack vibrancy; without the stories the objects would lack
significance. Taken together, the images of the objects, the stories they
evoke, and the stories of their collection lead the viewer on a journey
where the commonplace is transformed into the remarkable and where the stuff
of history is highly personalized.
When 9/11 occurred, we, like many others, felt a need to respond. We saw
that historians and curators were striving to work while history was unfolding.
They knew that important items needed to be saved, but were faced with personal
and professional challenges and did not having the perspective to determine
which objects would be valued in the future. As we followed their actions,
we saw that ordinary people were likewise compelled to preserve meaningful
objects or to bring items to sites of remembrance. We sensed that the stark
realities of the event would illuminate ever-present and universal human
drives and values, and that the stories captured would be important. As
time went on, and the world continued to experience tragedies like Katrina
and the Virginia Tech killings, it has become increasingly clear that this
work and the discussions it will provoke are deeply relevant. The experiences
and images that we filmed speak to fundamental qualities of the human spirit
and the underlying motivations for much behavior. As 9/11 recedes into history,
it has become a lens with which we can see how people respond in extraordinary
times. As one of the most dramatic and pervasive events in our lifetimes,
9/11 threw basic responses and values into sharp relief.
Using this canvas to depict iconic stories lifts the film beyond a sole
connection to this specific place and time and invites viewers to think
about their own lives and values. People will always face situations that
suddenly disrupt the expected path to the future. It is our aim to honor
the memory of those lost and to help people better deal with such upheavals
through understanding their own responses and motivations, and those of
others. At the same time, we all can be more fully aware of our own intangible
values, identity, and aspirations, and the tangible objects that represent
them: those things that are simply irreplaceable. "Objects and Memory" addresses
the importance of history - what we need to remember from those who preceded
us, what we wish to pass on to the future, and why we need to do so. It
explores the notion of museums - why do we have them, how do things get
there, who are the people who are behind the things that we see in the glass
cases? What happens to us when we are in the presence of relics? Objects
and Memory depicts the transformation of ordinary items into vital sources
of connection.
This film is crafted to speak to people 50, maybe 100 years from now, not
just to those who lived through the experiences depicted. Most films, as
good as they may be, are around for a few months and then disappear. Because
"Objects and Memory" speaks to fundamental, ever-present human impulses,
and because it stimulates discussion, it will provide perspective for those
in the future seeking to find commonality with us and our times, and to
understand their own. In conjunction with the distribution of the film,
there will be an educational initiative to explore the issues raised. |