Ivan & Ivana (2011) 80 Minutes
When the Kosovo war devastates
a young couple’s homeland, Ivan and Ivana set out for sunny California,
where they hope to sink their Serbian teeth into the American Dream. As
soon as their feet hit the sand, the blond and bronzed Ivana learns the
ins and outs of flipping houses, while her charismatic counterpart Ivan
dabbles in the convertible trade. Six years later, the pair appears
content in their sun-kissed promised land. Unfortunately, the housing
bubble is about to burst, and turbulent economic and personal tides are
rolling in. The couple’s filmmaking friend, Jeff Silva, records their
off-Hollywood tale over a ten-year period. With such a strong narrative
arc to work with, Silva grants his protagonists some privacy and eschews
the obvious and intimate drama. Instead, he highlights the intense
emotional space that occurs immediately before and after climactic
moments. The result is a riveting account of the American immigrant
experience. –TW - See more at: http://2012.doxafestival.ca/
BIO:
Jeff Silva is an artist, teacher, and curator based in Boston. He studied Cinema and Photography at Ithaca College and received a Master in Visual Art from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. His films and installations have been exhibited at festivals, galleries and in museums internationally, including: MoMA's Documentary Fortnight, The Viennale, Visions du Reel, Valdivia International Film Festival, Flahertiana, and DocAviv. In 2000, Jeff co-founded the experimental film and video expositions called Balagan which he continues to program at the Brattle Theatre with Mariya Nikiforova and Stefan Grabowski. Jeff is currently in post-production on two new feature films that both explore the threshold between documentary, contemporary art and fiction film.
http://ivanandivana.com/
http://www.jeffdanielsilva.com
