Past Film/Video | Visiting Filmmakers | Documentaries

Rock Bottom Riser

(Fern Silva, 2021)

Fern Silva in person

35MM Print | Ohio Premiere

Still of bright orange, molten lava against a black background. The lava is full of swirling, darker orange patterns and dark shadows.
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Jun 02, 2022 7:00 PM
Film/Video Theater

$7 members and seniors
$9 general public
$5 students

Click here to view our latest COVID-19 protocols.

ACCESSIBILITY
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as CART captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall at accessibility@wexarts.org or via telephone at (614) 688-3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

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Explore postcolonialism, pop culture, and Indigenous preservation in present-day Hawaii through Rock Bottom Riser, an exciting new documentary by past Film/Video Studio artist Fern Silva.

Hawaii has been a significant site for exploration since the earliest travelers used the night sky as their GPS, and it remains so for astronomers searching space for signs of life. Even as lava still flows there, scientists scheme to construct the world’s largest telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s most sacred mountain.

After a string of acclaimed shorts, Silva’s full-length debut—screening in a rare 35mm print with a powerful surround-sound mix—analyzes various cultural representations of the island, including numerous meanings and uses of the word “rock.” With vigor and sardonic humor, he examines topics that span the arrival of Christian missionaries to the controversial casting of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as King Kamehameha. Interweaving geology, ethnography, astronomy, and yes, vaping, Rock Bottom Riser documents the tensions between tourism, science, and Native sovereignty that shape Hawaii’s image in pop culture. Stay for a Q&A with the director after the screening! (70 mins., 35mm)

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"It urges viewers to consider the ways in which science can be a colonizing force, further marginalizing native Hawaiians and their traditional modes of inquiry while helping to criminalize their dissent."
New York Times on Rock Bottom Riser
Still of bright orange, molten lava against a black background. The lava is full of swirling, darker orange patterns and dark shadows.

Rock Bottom Riser, image courtesy of Cinema Guild.

Close-up still of a huge blue wave with white mist emanating from the currents.

Rock Bottom Riser, image courtesy of Cinema Guild.

Still of a marsh filled with green grass and tall tree trunks coming from the shallow water with a lush green forest in the distance. A figure of a person—edited to be camouflaged with the background—leans against a tree trunk.

Rock Bottom Riser, image courtesy of Cinema Guild.

Still of a deep, red-orange sky with the bright, yellow-orange sun in the center and outlines of clouds and the horizon below it. The silhouettes of two palm trees are in the forefront, one of which has leaves blocking part of the sun.

Rock Bottom Riser, image courtesy of Cinema Guild.

Still of a robotic arm with a claw extending towards the blue, green, and brown ocean floor with deep blue, opaque water in the background.

Rock Bottom Riser, image courtesy of Cinema Guild.

Still of large, white dome observatory on a platform above the pillowy, light blue clouds in the background below the orange-yellow sky. To the bottom right of the dome and platform is a silhouette of a person who appears minuscule in comparison.

Rock Bottom Riser, image courtesy of Cinema Guild.

Tag(s)

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Cardinal Health
Kaufman Development

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
The Wexner Family
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Columbus Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
American Electric Power Foundation
L Brands Foundation
Adam Flatto
Mary and C. Robert Kidder
Bill and Sheila Lambert
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Nationwide Foundation
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Mike and Paige Crane
Pete Scantland
Axium Packaging
CampusParc
CoverMyMeds
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
President Kristina M. Johnson and Mrs. Veronica Meinhard
Nancy Kramer
Huntington
Lisa Barton
Johanna DeStefano
Russell and Joyce Gertmenian
Liza Kessler and Greg Henchel
Ron and Ann Pizzuti
Joyce and Chuck Shenk
Bruce and Joy Soll
Jones Day

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Past Film/Video

Rock Bottom Riser

Jun 02, 2022 7:00 PM EST
Film/Video Theater

$7 members and seniors
$9 general public
$5 students

Click here to view our latest COVID-19 protocols.

ACCESSIBILITY
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. If you have questions about accessibility or require an accommodation such as CART captioning or ASL interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Accessibility Manager Helyn Marshall at accessibility@wexarts.org or via telephone at (614) 688-3890. Requests made by two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the Wexner Center for the Arts will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

Become a Member