DIRECTOR:

Ethan Minsker

SYNOPSIS

Enter the surreal world of "House of Helixx," where stop-motion magic and experimental hip-hop collide. Filmmaker and artist Ethan Minsker collaborates with musician and designer Helixx C. Armageddon in this 17 minute adventure.

DIRECTOR BIO

Ethan Minsker's descriptors include writer, filmmaker, artist, publisher, and zine creator. His work chronicles the lifestyles and cultures of overlooked and underappreciated artists. He was a founding member of the Antagonist Art Movement, a New York City-based group of artists, writers, and musicians who promoted work by up-and-coming talent between 2000 and 2011. Ethan was the recipient of the Acker Award for Visual Arts in 2017. He was also the creator and editor-in-chief of Psycho Moto Zine.

DIRECTOR STATEMENT

I am dyslexic. Diagnosed at age six, I was sent to a special school to learn to cope in a world I didn’t conform to. Shortly after this, my grandfather gave me an old hand-crank Super 8 mm camera. My first films were flashes of light and shadow, shaky and hard to watch for anyone but myself. But during those moments I could forget I had moved schools, left behind my friends, and been branded as different.

Being an outsider, I gravitated toward subcultures, most specifically the punk rock scene of Washington, D.C., where concepts that challenged standard practices were encouraged. Feeding from that passion, my films attempt to break predictable formats. The viewer should be continuously amused, informed, and inspired to see the world differently. I aim to create the feeling of a caffeine rush, an adventure that leaves the viewer spinning.

All of my films are micro-budget, self-funded, and can take five years or more to complete. Every piece of a film is approached as a work of art. My props consist of found materials, objects that are deemed to no longer have value, proving their worth through unorthodox transformation.

While others have labeled me as handicapped, I believe dyslexia helped develop my clear and definitive style, and film has allowed me to share my view of the world. Being open about my life and processes can hopefully help normalize what it means to be a person with a learning disability.