Film Comment:
Lumia
Thomas Wilfred almost made it. He was not the first nor the last to try to bottle light in an instrument and to play it like music. For two decades he hauled his steamer trunks of equipment around the country and transfixed people with his strange and beautiful projections. It was the golden age of invention. Electricity was the new religion. This energy infected the arts and inspired occult philosophies from Blavatsky and Ouspensky and the scientific theories of Einstein and Heisenberg, Wilfred tried to express the world beyond the material. He inspired many. The few who remain tell the tale of struggle and invention, obsession and anonymity. They all have fascinating stories to tell - of odd experiments, strange devices, and sorties into other dimensions.
Credits
Original Title: Lumia
Language:
English
Country of Origin: USA
Year : 2007
Duration: 84 Min.
Color
Director: Meredith Finkelstein, Paul Vlachos
Script: Meredith Finkelstein, Paul Vlachos
Camera: Meredith Finkelstein, Paul Vlachos
Editing: Meredith Finkelstein, Paul Vlachos
Music: The Analog Orchestra
Starring/Featuring: Joshua Spafford, Christopher Platt, Earl Reiback, Christopher Sidenius, Otto Piene
Production: 13BIT Productions LLC, Meredith Finkelstein, Paul Vlachos
Festivals: 2008: Mill Valley Film Festival (USA), Dallas Video Festival (USA), Alameda Film Festival (USA), Black Earth Film Festival (USA) Westcliffe Digital Film Festival (USA) Athens International Film and Video Festival (GR) Swansea Film Festival (UK) Avignon Film Festival (FR)
Awards: Best Documentary Feature, New York International Independent Film Festival (USA), Best Documentary Feature, Winnipeg International Film Festival (USA)Grand Festival Awards, Berkeley Video and Film Festival (USA)
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About the Film
Inventor, mystic, artist,
Thomas Wilfred is the godfather of multimedia. LUMIA is the story of Wilfred and other eccentric inventors obsessed with electricity, mysticism, and light.
He almost made it. He was not the first, or the last, to bottle light in an instrument and play it like music. For two decades, he hauled his steamer trunks of equipment around the country and transfixed people with his strange and beautiful projections.
He began his career as a Danish Lute player, giving command performances for the Crowned Heads of Europe. He captivated audiences throughout the 1920's and 30's with his eerie, sensational projected light shows - or Lumia.
Thomas Wilfred standing next to a Clavilux junior
– Photographer: unknown
Witnesses - lest we forget
World War 2 intervened, followed by television and the New York School of Painting. Wilfred's star fell, and he spent his last decades making automated versions of his work and executing commissions for private collectors and museums.
He inspired many. The few who remain tell the tale of struggle and invention, obsession and anonymity: Charles Dockum, Chris Sidenius, Mary Hallock Greenewalt, and Earl Reiback. They were all self-made light artists who built fantastic machines to express their vision. They all have fascinating stories to tell - of daring experiments, strange devices, and sorties into mysticism.
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