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Sound Spring

(Catalina Alvarez, 2024) 

Catalina Alvarez in person

World Premiere

An individual is standing on a balcony facing away, there are unicycles leaning up against the railing.

Catalina Alvarez presents a documentary as unconventional as the town and inhabitants it observes.

Unfolding in a series of eight vignettes, Sound Spring explores the unique story of the small town of Yellow Springs, Ohio. Tracing more than 100 years of history, the film is narrated by its residents in comical sequences: one interviewee rollerblades and reads the village’s water meters, another stands on his head in a breakdancing freeze. American history comes to life in their descriptions—ancestors’ settlements after slavery, a friendship with Coretta Scott King, Ohio’s Trail of Tears—among other more personal details of small-town life. The wording of their recollections is imperfect, unsure, because they are all recreations of previous audio interviews. By interacting with their own recorded media, villagers uncover layers of time and storytelling. Sound Spring was supported by the Wexner Center’s Film/Video Studio and Alvarez was the 2020 Ohio Shorts Jury Award winner. (95 mins., DCP)

See the complete Unorthodocs 2024 lineup.

Before seeing the world premiere of Sound Spring, check out a performance of the film’s unique soundtrack by composer Anthony Vine on October 8 at the Short North Stage in conjunction with the Johnstone Fund for New Music.

IMAGE CAPTION
Sound Spring, courtesy of the filmmaker.

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Unorthodocs 2024 is part of the 2024 FotoFocus Biennial: backstories.

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
National Endowment for the Arts 
Ohio Humanities

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY 
Greater Columbus Arts Council
 
The Wexner Family 
Institute of Museum and Library Services
 
Mellon Foundation 
Every Page Foundation 
Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts 
CampusParc 
Nationwide Foundation 
Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme 
The Columbus Foundation 
Axium Packaging

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY 
Ohio State Energy Partners 
Ohio History Fund/Ohio History Connection 
David Crane and Elizabeth Dang 
Melissa Gilliam and William Grobman 
Rebecca Perry Damsen and Ben Towle

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Sound Spring