2018 Films: Every Ghost Has An Orchestra

Every Ghost Has An Orchestra by Shayna Connelly
Chicago (Milwaukee Premiere)
Running Time: 7 minutes
Screening Time: Satueday, September 8th 9pm Juried
Documentary 
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Truth hides in the margins and the artist’s role is to point to it. The question of what happens after we die is a universal question explored by paranormal researcher and experimental composer Michael Esposito. He straddles the line between spiritual and material and asks the audience to reflect on our purpose, legacy and what our actions say about who we are.

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Director's Bio:

Shayna Connelly’s work explores hauntings, liminality and the boundaries between documentary, experimental and fiction filmmaking. Her films have screened at Sunderland Shorts, Toronto Short Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary, San Francisco Doc, CIMMfest, Chicago Feminist, Stranger Without a Face, Big Muddy, Columbus International, Breckenridge, Charlotte International, Crossroads, Chicago Underground, Sydney Underground, San Diego Underground, Oak Cliff, Brooklyn Film Festival, Bushwick Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival and Athens International among others. Newcity Magazine named her one of Chicago's 50 Screen Gems of 2016. 

Director's Statement:

In 2013 my husband Chris Connelly (Ministry, Revolting Cocks) recorded vocals for experimental composer Michael Esposito. In talking to me about Michael’s work, Chris used the terms ‘paranormal researcher’ and ‘composer’ interchangeably, which piqued my interest.

Ghosts and ghost stories fascinated me as a kid. And this ghost-lover grew up to be a music collector – the obsessions linked by mystery and a sense of awe of something greater than myself. It wasn’t until I started talking to Michael that this connection became apparent. What makes him stand apart from other paranormal researchers is that he goes beyond trying to gather proof of an afterlife and integrates his EVP findings into art. Research into physics, principles of recording and communication theory is also crucial to his process but his creative work communicates a fundamental truth about life and creativity that is difficult to express through words.

In terms of process I identify with Michael's struggle between the ethereal and concrete. At the time I was interviewing him I was haunted by the death of two close friends, the impact of which I was exploring in other films ('Gardening At Night' and 'Yours Is Not the Taj Mahal'). My work has always existed along the boundaries of experimental, fiction and documentary. To me truth exists at the margins, where edges blur and converge and where ambiguity reigns. Truth is elusive. Truth and belief are also often mixed together but as the Dadaists showed, collisions arising from ‘accidental context’ cause the truth to emerge. This is the idea underscoring 'Every Ghost Has An Orchestra'.

Filmography as Writer/Director: 

Bananas Girl, ca. 7 minutes, Experimental Documentary, 2018 (WIP)
Artist Statement, 6 minutes, Experimental Documentary, 2018 (WIP)
Fucked Up Point Blank, ca. 3 minutes, Found Footage Experimental Film, 2018 (WIP)
Quiver, 13:41 minutes, Narrative, 2018
Take Care of Me, 3:50 minutes, Documentary, 2017
Seven Lies, Seven Days, Seven Lovers, 3 minutes, Music Video, 2017
Every Ghost Has an Orchestra, 7 minutes, Documentary, 2017
Yours Is Not the Taj Mahal, 4 minutes, Experimental Documentary, 2017
Gardening at Night, 12:24 minutes, Narrative, 2016

Mistreated and Wild, 5 minutes, Music Video, 2016
signals: where do we go from here?, 5 minutes, Experimental, 2015
Blunt Force Trauma, 7 minutes, Experimental Documentary, 2014
Wait for Amateur, 2:21 minutes, Music Video, 2011

Additional Filmography
2nd Unit Director/Producer, Industrial Accident: The WaxTrax! Records Story, 100 minutes, feature documentary, 2018
Producer, Ten More, Narrative Short, 11 minutes
Producer, Stage Three, Comedy Short, 28 minutes