Residency news: The Village Detective premieres at the Moscow Film Fest

In his work, Bill unearths forgotten, often heavily deteriorated film footage and reassembles it in personal and poetic ways. His 2002 film Decasia is a haunting tapestry of mostly decomposed film footage from the silent era. It is the first film made in the 21st century to be named to the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry. His 2016 film Dawson City: Frozen Time was named one of the best films of that year by numerous publications. Bill used film footage that had been buried beneath an old hockey rink in the Yukon for decades, and the story around the film’s production helped it become a minor sensation beyond the typical art house circuit.  As part of his research on the film, Bill uncovered rare footage from the infamous 1919 World Series in which members of the Chicago “Black” Sox were accused of throwing the series against the Cincinnati Reds. Some longtime Wex regulars might remember that Bill very generously allowed this footage to be included in my Rare Baseball Films program in 2014. 

We’re hoping to host Bill, in-person, for a screening of The Village Detective as soon as we can, perhaps in late 2021 or early 2022. In the meantime, you can listen to the song cycle produced for the film by Bill and composer David Lang here.