NEW MILFORD – The Merryall Center in New Milford will open the eyes of the community to the beauty of the Fibonacci sequence and the art of creating music by hosting the Connecticut debut of director Dennis Cahlo’s first documentary “In Flowers” on Saturday. Through Space”.
The Fibonacci sequence is a mathematical sequence in which each number is the sum of the next two numbers, and Cahlo’s documentary highlights the work of artist E. Scott Lindner to turn this sequence into music.
Lindner and Cahlo are both scheduled to attend the screening of the film on Saturday and participate in a post-film discussion.
Cali’s career
Although his foray into film began late in life, Cahlo, a resident of Carmel, NY, said he wanted to be a filmmaker when he was younger. In his youth, he studied how to make movies and attempted to create his own films using his father’s VHS camera. His dreams as a filmmaker were put aside when Cahlo caught the music bug and toured the world as a musician aged around 18-26.
Cahlo then made the transition to a career as a freelance photographer, and it was through his work that he was introduced to various members of the local community, including Merryall Center board member Dean Gray. As part of his natural transition from photography to film, Cahlo said he decided to make a film based on a personal experience of his – thus his 20-minute short ‘The Weekend’ was created and well received. by viewers.
As he began to expand his business in video and film, Cahlo created three short films – including “The Weekend”, “Death and Disco Fries” and “Lonely Hearts” – before tackling his first feature documentary. .
“Blooming Through Space”
Reflecting on what inspired him to consider the Fibonacci sequence for his first feature documentary, Cahlo said it was actually Lindner who approached him to do the film. He said he had previously worked artistically with Lindner, with Lindner producing music and Cahlo taking pictures for Lindner.
“He’s very quick and mysterious,” Cahlo said of Lindner. “He said, ‘I have a project and I want you to do a documentary about it.'”
Although Cahlo had never directed a feature-length documentary before, Lindner assured him he could. They met to discuss the project, and as Lindner walked Cahlo through the process of making a movie based on the Fibonacci sequence, Cahlo quickly realized how it could be shot.
“It’s the magic of when Scott and I worked together – things happen very quickly,” Cahlo said. “We can come up with ideas very quickly. He works really fast, so you kind of have to be fast.
“It was kind of our two minds together,” he continued, “and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t think I would have thought of doing a documentary about the Fibonacci sequence.”
However, Cahlo told Lindner he wanted enough freedom to give the film a “Kubrick sci-fi feel”. Opening the documentary with each number in the sequence, Cahlo explained that each number represents a chapter in the film and is accompanied by a singular flower and a musical piece created for that number. He said he used this technique to break up the documentary and keep viewers engaged.
Recalling the time it took to make the documentary, Cahlo said: “Scott works by the rules – he basically hired me, so I had to follow his rules. He said, ‘You have so many days to shoot it and you have to do it within that time frame because it’s the Fibonacci sequence.” Even the documentary had to be made under a number of rules.
Although Cahlo said he had to scramble and figure out how to shoot the documentary within those rules, he said Lindner fairly compensated him. Luckily, Cahlo was able to pull together all of the interviews for the documentary within the allotted time frame, and then shoot and put the film together in less than two months.
When asked what his secret was to meeting the deadline, Cahlo replied, “Lots of coffee and will of the spirit. There was no crew – there was me, the camera and the mic.
Cahlo also admitted that the process required him to step out of himself frequently.
“I had to overcome the doubts I had in me as a filmmaker and I came out of it stronger in the end.”
Documentary debut in CT
When it came time for the film to hit the big screen, Cahlo said “In Flowers Through Space” didn’t get much love on the film festival circuit and was rejected by around 15 or 20 festivals. movies. Luckily for the couple, the Merryall Center became interested in bringing the documentary to New Milford.
Knowing Cahlo for about a decade and even having had the pleasure of hiring him as a wedding photographer, Gray said he’s seen Cahlo’s shorts and been amazed at their quality. When Cahlo mentioned that it was difficult to get documentaries at film festivals, Gray asked if they could bring it to Merryall for the film’s premiere in Connecticut.
“At Merryall, all of our events to date have been live musical performances,” Gray said. “It’s the same genre, but it’s music recording and it’s a behind-the-scenes look at music, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Watching the documentary, Gray said Lindner inspires viewers to understand the struggles of creativity: “You learn a lot about what this person is going through behind the scenes and how he perseveres and how he pushes in other areas of his life. life, and you end up taking care of this person who just wants to create music.
Gray said he was also interested in other musicians’ response to this unique approach to music-making, as seen in the documentary, and how they collaborated to create the “In Flowers Through Space” album.
“This art is a struggle worth fighting, this beauty comes from perseverance – that was what I take away,” said Gray.
“It means the world to Scott and me that people are going to see this movie,” Cahlo said. “Having that kind of support is what the film is all about. We’re thrilled, we’re absolutely thrilled.
When asked if he would do documentaries again, Cahlo replied, “Yeah, absolutely.”
Between his jobs, Cahlo said he was working on a horror movie documentary on his YouTube channel “Dennis Cahlo” to fill the void and keep his tool sharp. Using the new series as a continuation of his foray into documentaries, Cahlo said he plans to do it once a month because he prefers to focus on quality over quantity.
