The Saxon New World
USA
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Runtime: 32:00
Category: Faith
Screening Date: January 29, 2015
From the untold history of America’s largest early immigrations, this half-hour documentary tells the story of 19th-century Saxons who settled in rural Missouri. Unprepared for the harsh conditions of America in 1838, and dismayed by the scandal of their leader Martin Stephan, they persevered to sow the seeds for one of the world’s largest bodies of Lutheranism today (Missouri Synod Lutherans). From interviews with historians and curators, to archival pictures and centennial re-enactments, this documentary blends historical storytelling with the music of J.S. Bach, in a tribute to the living descendants of this epic migration.
Director: H. Paul Moon
H. Paul Moon is a filmmaker,
composer and video artist. Through his production company Zen Violence
Films, he profiles performing and visual artists who span boundaries
from classical arts to new media technologies. He also creates
experimental films in the tradition of wordless environmental cinema
ranging from city symphonies to "Koyaanisqatsi."
Moon's debut film "El Toro" — an experimental work that explores connections between the ancient ritual of Spanish bullfights, and the passion of the Christ — won the Best of Show award of the 2010 Rosebud Film & Video Festival at Artisphere, and the Experimental Media Prize of the 2011 WPA Experimental Media Series at The Phillips Collection. Prior to "El Toro," Moon filmed the documentary "R. Luke DuBois: Running Out of Time," profiling a New York composer and visual artist who builds on notions of cultural and romantic memory, exploring how information can be time-manipulated for emotional impact. The documentary premiered at the 2011 DC Independent Film Festival, won the 2011 "Best Short Documentary" jury prize at the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival, won the 2011 "Silver Medal for Excellence in a Music Documentary" at the Park City Film Music Festival, and won the 2013 "Best Short Film" jury prize at the Reel Indie Film Fest in Toronto. Subsequently, Moon filmed the short documentary "Hamac Cazíim," about a punk band using music to maintain their indigenous heritage, which became an official selection at the Red Nation, Chicago International Movies & Music, and Ruby Mountain Film Festivals, the Native American Indian Film Festival of the Southeast, the Indianer Inuit: Das Nordamerika Filmfestival in Stuttgart, Germany, and XEPE AN CÖICOOS in Sonora, Mexico.
Moon later debuted "Time Crunch," a landscape/environmental film accompaniment to the same-named work for chamber orchestra by composer Jordan Kuspa, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with the 21st Century Consort. "Time Crunch" became an official selection at the Ruby Mountain, James River Shorts, Chronos, and Park City Film Music Festivals. From the same series at the Smithsonian, he debuted an experimental work named "Simple Machines" with an original music score by R. Luke DuBois, which subsequently screened at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, and the Imagine Science Film Festival in New York City. Prolific in creating shorts, his newest other films are "LowerTown Paducah," a feature-length documentary about an artist relocation program in Kentucky, and "The Saxon New World," a half-hour documentary about 19th-century Saxons who settled in rural Missouri, from the untold history of America's earliest and largest immigrations. Projects still in production include a narrative short, and five feature-length documentaries: about the American composer Samuel Barber, cowboy poetry, Fluxus art, the Occupy movement, and the life of Whittaker Chambers — an espionage thriller.
Prior to his recent interest in filmmaking, Moon was a playwright and a composer of incidental music for theatre. He lives and works in the Washington, D.C. area, and manages online filmmaker communities at www.focuspulling.com and www.docofilm.com. He is the recipient of the Emergence award at Docs In Progress, where he teaches video editing as an Adobe Certified Expert (A.C.E.).
Samples are available through his online portfolio at www.zenviolence.com.
Moon's debut film "El Toro" — an experimental work that explores connections between the ancient ritual of Spanish bullfights, and the passion of the Christ — won the Best of Show award of the 2010 Rosebud Film & Video Festival at Artisphere, and the Experimental Media Prize of the 2011 WPA Experimental Media Series at The Phillips Collection. Prior to "El Toro," Moon filmed the documentary "R. Luke DuBois: Running Out of Time," profiling a New York composer and visual artist who builds on notions of cultural and romantic memory, exploring how information can be time-manipulated for emotional impact. The documentary premiered at the 2011 DC Independent Film Festival, won the 2011 "Best Short Documentary" jury prize at the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival, won the 2011 "Silver Medal for Excellence in a Music Documentary" at the Park City Film Music Festival, and won the 2013 "Best Short Film" jury prize at the Reel Indie Film Fest in Toronto. Subsequently, Moon filmed the short documentary "Hamac Cazíim," about a punk band using music to maintain their indigenous heritage, which became an official selection at the Red Nation, Chicago International Movies & Music, and Ruby Mountain Film Festivals, the Native American Indian Film Festival of the Southeast, the Indianer Inuit: Das Nordamerika Filmfestival in Stuttgart, Germany, and XEPE AN CÖICOOS in Sonora, Mexico.
Moon later debuted "Time Crunch," a landscape/environmental film accompaniment to the same-named work for chamber orchestra by composer Jordan Kuspa, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum with the 21st Century Consort. "Time Crunch" became an official selection at the Ruby Mountain, James River Shorts, Chronos, and Park City Film Music Festivals. From the same series at the Smithsonian, he debuted an experimental work named "Simple Machines" with an original music score by R. Luke DuBois, which subsequently screened at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, and the Imagine Science Film Festival in New York City. Prolific in creating shorts, his newest other films are "LowerTown Paducah," a feature-length documentary about an artist relocation program in Kentucky, and "The Saxon New World," a half-hour documentary about 19th-century Saxons who settled in rural Missouri, from the untold history of America's earliest and largest immigrations. Projects still in production include a narrative short, and five feature-length documentaries: about the American composer Samuel Barber, cowboy poetry, Fluxus art, the Occupy movement, and the life of Whittaker Chambers — an espionage thriller.
Prior to his recent interest in filmmaking, Moon was a playwright and a composer of incidental music for theatre. He lives and works in the Washington, D.C. area, and manages online filmmaker communities at www.focuspulling.com and www.docofilm.com. He is the recipient of the Emergence award at Docs In Progress, where he teaches video editing as an Adobe Certified Expert (A.C.E.).
Samples are available through his online portfolio at www.zenviolence.com.
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