NOC staff
James Baker Hall: Elbow of Light, premiering in Lexington on Friday, April 30, is not quite documentary and not quite biography—it may best be described as a meditation on art, spirit, and tenacity in the life of one of Kentucky’s most celebrated teachers and creators. Shot in the year before Hall’s death, the film offers intimate interviews with him and his wife, writer Mary Ann Taylor-Hall. Hall discusses the tragedy of his childhood, his life-long recovery from that tragedy, his life as an artist and teacher, and his method of working.
Hall taught creative writing at the University of Kentucky for thirty years, and throughout that time he produced many books of his own writing and photography; presented numerous lectures, readings and exhibits; pursued his work as a mentor to the next generation of Kentucky writers and artists; and for a short time made 8mm experimental film. Those films, which have not seen wide release, appear excerpted in Elbow of Light.
Production credits for the forty-five minute film include two of Hall’s former students, which required them to take a personal angle of approach to its creation. Writer and director, Whitney Baker, studied writing with Hall for over a decade, and cinematographer, Sarah Wylie Ammerman VanMeter, worked as Hall’s photographic studio assistant for many years after taking one of the last autobiography courses he taught before he retired from UK in 2003.
“I wanted to make a film that would provide some glimpse of Jim’s energy as a teacher, as an artist and as a man,” says Baker in his statement of intent for the film. He goes on to express the type of education he received from Hall: “Without giving ourselves the right to be surprised by creation and re-creation, we spin our wheels, and our resentments entrench rather than pass away. Jim helped me understand that, and he helped many others come to the same understanding.”
VanMeter explains that Hall’s “films and photographs were my road maps for this piece. Its pace, its style… everything is per Jim’s example.”
Even the title, Elbow of Light, is taken from one of Hall’s in-film quotes. He says, in a voice-over, while stills of his photographs dissolve into each other on screen, “Oh! This little elbow of light on this broken stem of grass is about ready to go unnoticed, but I’m here to notice it.”
The film’s producer, Griffin VanMeter, talks about Hall’s influence from his perspective as a friend of Hall’s and a collector of his work. He states, “It is an impressive feat to be an artist who consistently produced art in multiple media at such a high level—work admired by peers, critics, collectors, students and academics. And it is perhaps an even greater feat to inspire and motivate these people, pushing them to the next level in their own art-making and their lives.”
The filmmakers hope Elbow of Light will preserve Hall’s legacy as a writer and artist and continue his work as a mentor to young, or blocked, artists.
Elbow of Light will screen April 30, 2010 at 5 PM and 7:30 PM in the Downtown Arts Center Black Box Theater, 141 East Main Street, Lexington, KY. A discussion with the filmmakers, facilitated by Ann Tower, will follow each screening, where questions from the audience are encouraged. A reception, catered by Stella’s Kentucky Deli, will take place in the DAC lobby between the screenings. Tickets are $6 and available by calling (859) 225-0370 or by going to http://www.lexarts.tix.com/
The filmmakers thank LexArts for providing funding for this film screening to provide exposure to emerging talent in the film industry through its Fund for the Arts. Also, there is a pay-what-you-can ticket option, made possible by PNC.
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