Anthony Goicolea

“The Septemberists“ chronicle the preparations and processes associated with traditional rituals. A group of boys harvests materials in a dream-like landscape in order to construct the clothing and elements necessary to enact a series of semi-sacrificial rites of passage. Taking inspiration from Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf," in the film the musical score takes the place of dialogue. Each group of boys functions as a pack of mute workers accompanied only by the sound of their designated musical instruments. Operating in silent unison, they sheer sheep, pick cotton or collect ink sacs from an octopus farm. After a day of harvesting ingredients, the workers return to their compound and spend the night constructing the elements necessary to fulfill their ceremonial obligations. Traditional rituals such as matrimony, baptisms and funerals merge together in mystical outdoor settings to create new hybridizations of old customs. More