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Donkey Journeys to Hollywood for Indie Cinema
24 Feb
Summary
- An Oscar-nominated filmmaker visited LA with a donkey.
- A short film features donkeys exploring an observatory.
- The film advocates for independent cinema in Hollywood.
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Alison McAlpine recently visited Los Angeles, utilizing her trip to highlight the importance of independent cinema. McAlpine brought a donkey to the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign, appending the message "Hollywood Needs Strangeness" to the iconic landmark.
Her documentary short, "perfectly a strangeness," stars three donkeys named Palomo, Ruperto, and Palaye, who wander through a mountainous landscape and discover an abandoned cosmic observatory. The film, shot in Chile's Atacama Desert, explores perspective through anamorphic lenses and visual effects.
"perfectly a strangeness" premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and has since garnered over 20 international awards. It was recently nominated for Best Documentary Short at the 98th Academy Awards. The Criterion Channel will begin streaming the film in March.
McAlpine aimed to tell a story without dialogue, focusing on cinema's fundamental elements: shadow, light, sound, and reflections. The film's creation was inspired by observing donkeys near scientific telescopes in the Atacama Desert, prompting questions about their perception of the world.
