Cate Giordano in "Heritage."

Cate Giordano makes short films that are simultaneously Americana period pieces and unnervingly contemporary. They are melodramatic, funny, transcendent and surreal, sometimes in quick succession, and, like real life, sometimes all at once; transcendent moments are inherently melodramatic, and melodramatic behavior is almost always funny, whether it’s over the top, or comes from a place of nervousness at being emotionally naked. Screenings of her short films, including “Heritage,” will be held tonight at 7pm at 24k Studios (with foot stomping, tear-in-your-eye music) and tomorrow, January 18, at Artist Television Access (ATA).

 

 

On “Heritage,” from Giordano’s press release:

 

It is 1888 and all the buffalo are gone, leaving one of the largest cities in South Dakota empty. Now there are only two residents left. One of them is Beau, a hunter once regaled for his 4000 buffalo pelts and his disgruntled wife, Ruby. In the absence of buffalo to kill, Beau erects an enormous statue of a White Buffalo on his property, while a horrified Ruby begs him to abandon his project. When an out-­‐of-­‐town preacher arrives with his brainwashed followers and destroys Beau’s buffalo and steals his wife, Beau embarks on a journey to find the real White Buffalo. Shot ‘on location’ in the streets of New York City, Heritage is a melodrama about a man, played by a woman, who learns to deal with the reality of change and the freedom of being alone.

 

Cate Giordano’s “Heritage” and other short films will be shown on Thursday, January 17 at 7pm, at 24k Studios, followed by a musical performance and talk by the artist.

 

 

-Kendall George