Rosa & Michel Tyabji were the location sound team as well as doing all of the audio post production / sound design work for this AWARD-WINNING independent feature film from Washington State! Shot on over 50 locations between Bellingham and Seattle, this film is a showcase of Pacific Northwest culture.
"Acclaimed debut feature out of the US; a future cult classic." - Edinburgh International Film Festival
Apart From That has great reviews! Check them out!:
VARIETY
"The everyday mysteries of ordinary folk in a rural Washington State town form the substance of "Apart From That," an original and resonant feature debut by co-directors-writers-editors Randy Walker and Jennifer Shainin. The American theme of lives lived in quiet desperation is sensitively applied through each of the film's elegantly woven strands, all reaching a satisfying end without feeling neatly resolved. Euro and Asian fest dates should follow, but the real test will be if a Stateside distrib shows courage enough to handle this outstanding if demanding work..." By ROBERT KOEHLER
"Apart From That is an incredibly rich portrait of a group of various characters living their lives in a rural area of Washington. The opening credits sequence sets up the rest of the film for the audience in a way that few films ever do with a simple gathering of friends. Here, we are exposed to the naturalistic direction with equally effortless performances to compliment it. The dialogue is candid, almost with an improvised feel, it’s as we are finally opening the shades to a window not yet opened that exposes us to this eccentric group of people..." by Michael Ferraro
"...What most marks Apart From That as an experimental film is the filmmakers' style. Shainin and Walker worked both together and separately on the script until they had what they wanted. Then as they headed into production, they told their cast of mostly inexperienced actors that if a line of dialogue didn't feel right or natural, to throw it out or change it. They filmed on an two-days-on, one-day-off schedule, so that they could do rewrites of the script based on the direction the actors were taking the film. They shot each scene three times, not for redundancy, but to get three completely different takes on each scene so they could pick and choose their favorite bits. Because of this, the film has an organic, patchwork quality to it that works amazingly well. The stories and the characters feel real, as if you are a fly on the wall observing their relationships and interactions. There is some excellent storytelling going on here, and it will be really interesting to see what Shainin and Walker come up with next; this directing duo is worth watching out for in the future. In the meantime, if you get a chance to catch Apart From That -- don't miss it..." by Kim Voynar
"It begins at a party, where the five principals are introduced in turn. They appear only vaguely familiar with each other, loosely linked by the neighborhood they inhabit. Some are of different ethnic types-a Native American road-striper, a Vietnamese banker and his adopted son-and in fact, one of the film's more satisfying qualities is its matter-of-fact portrait of a multicultural America. Yet far from unifying the narrative, this incident proves a departure point, with each of the plotlines subsequently unravelling like a ball of twine. We follow each character over the course of the subsequent 24 hours, and in the process, gain a sense of the complexity and contradictions of their everyday lives. At which point the film doesn't end, so much as merely stop. As befits something so apparently anti-narrative, the film displays a cumulative rather than linear power: a depth of feeling that comes from close observation and patient attention. "Evesdroppings," as the filmmakers put it."
-Shane Danielsen, Edinburgh International Film Festival.
To that I would add the following:
A cinematographic style that successfully balances formal, measured shots like this one (which bears a strong resemblance to a panoramic photograph by Scott Mcfarland or a video projection by Mark Lewis) with more kinetic, off-kilter scenes that reminded me of moving William Eggleston pictures, complete with saturated colour and subjective focus pulling.
An attention to the specific vernacular of Cascadia, that vague region encompassing everything from southern British Columbia to Northern California (the film is set somewhere in the vicinity of Munro, WA. by my guess.) The photographs of Shawn Records, similar in tone and content to the film, document this same region.
An assortment of wonderfully present actors, especially Alice Ellingson and Tony K. (Ties Me Up) Cladoosby (above), that manage to inhabit their difficult roles with grace and spontaneity. Cladoosby, in particular, is a sight for sore eyes; managing to make Leo (who could have been yet another Native American cipher, all message, no substance) funny, direct and utterly individual. Have a look at his 'actor's resume.' Nothing up the sleeve, as they say.
A consistently alienating, disconnected emotional tone to the proceedings, that gives way in the last fifteen minutes to a series of extremely subtle moments of spontaneous warmth and connection. Not a happy ending so much as a refusal to give in to despair.
