It is a documentary, an essay film, a reenactment. It is existential climate dread. It is Romantic. It is a deeply personal film. It is a film about a region. It is an attempt to understand large systemic forces. It is the search for the glimpse of a tornado. It is all of these things and more.
Fundraising Goal: $1,200
In May of 2019, I began production on A Brief History while chasing a supercell from Mangnum, Oklahoma through the Ozark Mountains. In May, 2021, I will embark on a second trip throughout the north american plains (the breadth of an area referred to as "tornado alley"), from the Texas Panhandle to the Dakotas. I have already raised funds to cover nearly all travel expenses. However, the production of A Brief History is on 16mm and the film stock is expensive. Each print in the fundraiser below is priced for roughly 2 minutes of film ($35). I am attempting to raise $1,200 for the purchase of roughly 2,400 feet of film, or just over sixty minutes. Any amount raised beyond the stated goal will be put toward film processing and a 4K digital transfer.
Each print is hand screen printed on archival paper. The designs were inspired by the research illustrations of Tetsyu Fujita.
What lies ahead: a print fundraiser; research at the archive of pioneering storm researcher Tetsuya Fujita (pictured above) at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas; principal photography and storm chasing; a search for George Kuchar's cinematic ghost in a motel in El Reno, Oklahoma; many unknowns.
PRODUCTION TIMELINE
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHASING STORMS is a film produced by Curtis Miller, an interdisciplinary artist based out of Chicago, IL. His films have shown internationally at Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival - Hawick, the Centre for Contemporary Arts - Glasgow, EXIS - Seoul, and the Montreal Underground Film Festival, as well as domestically at the Hyde Park Arts Center - Chicago, Nightingale - Chicago, the Chicago Underground Film Festival, ICDOCS, among others. He is the co-founder of Flatland with Chris Reeves, an artist-run exhibition platform in Chicago, IL.
*Image of Tetsuya Fujita by Roger Tully