"All My Love" a work of art

At a time when most independent filmmakers are vying for a slot at Sundance or courting Hollywood's so-called "indie-film" boutiques, it's refreshing to see a film that caters exclusively to the mysteries of artistic expression. With "All My Love," local filmmaker/composer Brian Short has created an audiovisual experience that will mesmerize some and leave others confounded, but it's boldly deserving of its first prize for best feature at the Northwest Film Forum's 2007 Local Sightings film festival.

As Short's hypnotic visuals and seductive aural landscapes put me in a trancelike state, I was happily reminded of local filmmaker Janice Findley's monthly "New Film/New City" series that drew loyal audiences to the late, lamented New City Theater (now Richard Hugo House) throughout the 1990s. Since then, local showcases for purely experimental films have become increasingly rare, but Findley's programs had an addictive quality that attracted curious filmgoers who kept coming back for more.

With "All My Love" and a recent showing of works by influential film artist James Benning, NWFF is keeping that adventurous spirit alive. And while I won't pretend to know precisely what Short is attempting with "All My Love" in terms of specific themes and meanings, his film has an artistic cohesiveness that indicates a probing intelligence at work. Visual and ambient musical motifs are introduced and developed, and you can sense a unique consciousness behind the impressionistic images and sounds that Short has assembled.

Some passages suggest a dream logic that would fit nicely into David Lynch's "Inland Empire," while others nod to the legacies of the avant-garde. Filming in a variety of formats and processes on locations in the Mongolian Gobi Desert, the American Southwest and midtown Berlin, Short provides enigmatic chapter headings (like "Solidify," "Hermaphrodisiac" and "Eating Gods") that hint at the filmmaker's intentions.

But "All My Love" doesn't beat you over the head with any kind of literal translation. It's a wholly original and personal work that encourages each viewer to draw his or her own conclusions, and isn't that what all good art should do?

Jeff Shannon: j.sh@verizon.net