AN INJURY TO ONE (Travis Wilkerson, USA, 2003, 53min.)

 
In anticipation of next month’s campus visit by Travis Wilkerson  (Film and Digital Media Visiting Artist Series, Monday February 7th, 6-8pm, Studio C), we are screening his 2003 film, An Injury to One.  During his campus visit, Wilkerson will be screening and discussing his newest work, The Sand Creek Equation.

 
An Injury to One provides a corrective—and absolutely compelling—glimpse of a particularly volatile moment in early 20th century American labor history: the rise and fall of Butte, Montana. Specifically, it chronicles the mysterious death of Wobbly organizer Frank Little, a story whose grisly details have taken on a legendary status in the state. Archival footage mixes with deftly deployed inter-titles, while the lyrics to traditional mining songs are accompanied by music from William Oldham, Jim O'Rourke, and the band Low, producing an appropriately moody, effulgent, and strangely out-of-time soundtrack. The result is a unique film/video hybrid that combines painterly images, incisive writing, and a bold graphic sensibility to produce an articulate example of the aesthetic and political possibilities offered by filmmaking in the digital age.