(2013/15min/color/silent)
A poetic journey from the darkness of early dawn into the brightness of the midday sun in the American South. Filmed entirely on the number 16 bus route in Durham, North Carolina over the course of six months, Sun Song is a celebration of light and a meditation on leaving. Distributed worldwide by MUBI.
“...the final three minutes of Sun Song are as exciting and as impeccably edited as anything I’ve seen in years. It’s the most radical depiction of space travel since the highway scene in Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972)! That Wanek was able to produce such a mature, surprising, and deeply human piece so early in his filmmaking career gives me great hope.” Sheer Playfulness and Deadly Seriousness, Senses of Cinema, by Darren Hughes
“There is no end to the trip in Sun Song, but the light's role does eventually have a hand in the conclusion, coming first flickering and then laying upon the seats and a final passenger like a passing revelation of an unspoken blessing." Rotterdam 2014. Deep Breaths, MUBI Notebook, by Daniel Kasman
"Inspired by the sounds and philosophy of Sun Ra, this silent workaday evocation of earthbound interstellar travel features working class African American workers as seldom depicted: with grace and poetry." Program Notes for Down To Earth: Extraterrestrials and Heavenly Bodies, Echo Park Film Center, curated by Christopher Harris
AWARDS
Grand Prize, International Competition - Internationales Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg, 2014
Best Short Film - ICDOCS International Film Festival, 2014
Award for Best Cinematography - Ann Arbor Film Festival, 2014
Third Prize - Media City Film Festival, 2014
Prix de la Competition Internationale - Festival Des Cinemas Differents et Experimentaux de Paris, 2014