How big is time?
On the remote Canadian island of Texada, the everyday stuff of human existence—work, play and dreams—is juxtaposed against the tectonic shifts of the planet, rising and falling in cyclical patterns of creation, extinction and renewal.
In this impressionistic VR project, co-directors Claire Sanford and Josephine Anderson merge 360-degree live-action footage, captured across the island, with 3D animation of geologic upheaval to create an immersive, poetic experience. A chorus of residents’ voices ebbs and flows, unravelling the complexities of the surrounding limestone that is central to the community and economy of the island. Present in everything from toothpaste to the great Pyramids of Egypt, this humble yet ubiquitous rock is a critical element in the construction of our modern society.
Texada is about rocks, people and time—the head-spinning vastness of terrestrial epochs contrasted with the immediacy of day-to-day human experience. Real and imagined landscapes document a journey from the Earth’s formation to the current moment: twinned streams of existence mixing and mingling in an ever-changing flow. As geologic forces continue to unfold, the only constant is transformation. Yet amongst the great heave of history, glimpses of temporal beauty, like discovering beautiful stones on a beach, help us understand our place in the universe.
Crushed limestone generously provided by LaFarge GVA Aggregates.
Biography
Claire Sanford is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, cinematographer and video artist whose work explores the natural world, human identity and how they overlap. Her projects have been exhibited internationally at film festivals and galleries, including IDFA, DOC NYC, Hot Docs and TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten, and on online platforms such as Vimeo Staff Picks.
2023 Texada, VR experience
2023 Twig (medium-length doc)
2022 Violet Gave Willingly (short doc)
2018 Wind Should Be Heard Not Seen (short doc)
2014 Rheo (short doc)
Josephine Anderson is a Vancouver-based documentary filmmaker who works across the documentary and interactive formats to address themes like time, irreverence and female experience. Josephine’s work has screened at international festivals, including Tribeca and IDFA, and has been presented by The New Yorker Documentary, Vimeo Staff Picks, CBC, the Canada Council for the Arts.
2023 Texada, VR experience
2021 Starlight & Other Sounds: the music of Alexina Louie (short)
2020 On Falling (short doc)
2018–2020 Canada’s a Drag (TV Series documentary) (4 episodes)
2020 Rose Butch
2020 Shay Dior
2019 Alma Bitches
2018 Berlin M. Stiller
2017 The Third Movement (short doc)
2012 The Sticking Place (interactive doc)
Links
Claire Sanford
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-sanford-77097b87
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claire.sanford.cinematographer/
- Website: http://www.clairesanford.ca
- Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/clairesanford
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clairesanfordcinematographer
Josephine Anderson
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josephine.anderson.films/
- Website: https://www.josephineanderson.ca
- LinkedIn: n/a