A Patriot of These Woods

Director: Karel Doing

Year: 2023

Blades of grass create the sensation of a high speed movement. Sparks fly off in all directions. An experimental animation made with the phytogram technique that was invented by the filmmaker.

Director: Matthew Berka

Year: 2027

A SEASON IN SECRET brings together material both close at hand and far away. It is a meditation on things glimpsed at a distance and the limits of perception. What lies behind the screen is hidden and may only be hinted at through the language of visible images and sounds. The film takes some of its cues from the Japanese aesthetic concept of Yūgen, described in part by the 15th-century aesthetician Zeami Motokiyo: “...to stand upon the shore and gaze after a boat that disappears behind distant islands.”

Director: James Richards

Year: 2026

Taking as his starting point - less by way of invocation than summoning - the text from Marguerite Duras’ 'Les Mains négatives' and Tony Conrad’s 'The Flicker', James Richards weaves together stirring fragments composed from 2022-2026, including repurposed material from friends and collaborators including Steve Reinke. The screen is filled with images and impressions, depicting a frantic yet melancholic quest for meaning between language, gesture, and sensation. Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival 2026 - World premiere