Ride Like Lightning, Crash Like Thunder

“Framed within the vision of the Hudson River School and the legend of Rip Van Winkle, Ride Like Lightning, Crash Like Thunder unfolds as a storm approaches on the horizon. An uncertain future is in store as the creeping hand of history disrupts nature and civility in the Hudson River regions of Upstate New York.” Fern Silva
Fern Silva’s associative 16mm film is at times a portrait of a multi-generational artist community, a meditation on landscape, and a swan song for the idyll of rural America.
by Fern Silva USA 2017 English 9’ Colour

Crew

Director Fern Silva
Music Bunny Brains
Producer Fern Silva

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Fern Silva

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, USA in 1982, the artist – who has Portuguese roots – studied at the Massachusetts College of Art and Bard College and first began working as a cinematographer and editor. His films, most of which are shot on 16mm, have screened at festivals including Toronto, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam, New York, London, Melbourne and Hong Kong as well as at MoMA PS1, New Museum and the Anthology and Harvard film archives. With Peril of the Antilles, Wayward Fronds and Ride Like Lightning, Crash Like Thunder, his work has already been presented three times in Forum Expanded.

Filmography

2007 Notes from a Bastard Child; short film 2008 Spinners; short film · After Marks; short film 2009 Sahara Mosaic; short film 2010 Servants of Mercy; short film · In the Absence of Light, Darkness Prevails; short film 2011 Peril of the Antilles; short film · Passage Upon the Plume; short film 2012 Concrete Parlay; short film 2013 Tender Feet; short film 2014 Wayward Fronds; short film 2015 Scales in the Spectrum of Space; short film 2017 The Watchmen; short film · Ride Like Lightning, Crash Like Thunder; short film 2021 Rock Bottom Riser

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021