Radio Jammer
A fragmentary 16mm portrait of the lonely lives that haunt Chicago's underground rap scene. Alienated youth seek transcendence amid chaotic crowds, deafening noise, and the allure of occult aesthetics. The gaze of surveillance, both real and imagined, affirms their indignation.
Image + Edit by Jacob Kessler
Sound by Eislow Johnson & Dominic Bonelli
Watch: Trailer Screenings: Doc Films (Chicago, IL), ICDOCS (Iowa City, IA), Baltic Analog Lab (Riga, Latvia), Union Cinema (Milwaukee, WI), Visions Du Réel VdR-Market (Nyon, Switzerland) Awards: ICDOCS Juror’s Best-in-Show
One Long Arm Blind
A sensorial meditation on the morbid history embedded in the landscape of Chicago’s Bubbly Creek through traces left on the ecosystem and the surface of the celluloid image.
Image + Edit by Jacob Kessler & Laura Gede
Watch: Sample Screenings: Baltic Analog Lab (Riga, Latvia)
A Hawk Looked at Me
A poetic series of transitions take place in Chicago’s Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary: the transition from day to night, the transition of youth to old age, and the transition from presence to absence. A Hawk Looked at Me reflects on cross-species encounters and the significance humans project upon them, always dissolving into vast uncertainty.
Image + Edit by Jacob Kessler & Lulu Tian
Watch: Full Film Screenings: Baltic Analog Lab (Riga, Latvia)
Supernova
Docu-fiction short following Astro Erle, an aged ex-Club Kid, as she prepares to re-enter New York's queer nightlife after years of leading a nomadic crust-punk lifestyle.
Directed by Jacob Kessler
Produced by Lorenzo Rugiero & Jacob Kessler
Cinematography by Liam Dillon
Edited by Steven Marcario & Jacob Kessler
Watch: Full Film | Trailer Screenings: NoBudge (Brooklyn, NY) NewFilmmakers NY (New York, NY), Nefiltravanae Kino (Minsk, Belarus), QRC.PRJCT (Athens, Greece), Alexandre Trauner Art/Film Festival (Szolnok, Hungary), Zlatý Voči (Prague, Czech Republic)
2940 N Campbell
Experimental short observing the celebration of a Satanic holiday at a Chicago queer DIY space. As the CPD raids and permanently close the venue, excess pleasures persist to the musicality of a malfunctioning police radio. In the onslaught of lights and noises, audience members find a curious indifference to their source.
Image + Edit by Jacob Kessler
Screenings: Chicago Underground Film Festival (Chicago, IL), Ethnografilm (Paris, France), Experimental Film Festival Process (Riga, Latvia), Moviate Underground Film Festival (Harrisburg, PA), Experimental Superstars (Novi Sad, Serbia)
Restitution Remaining
Documentary short listening to the emotions, concerns, and memories of residents of Evanston, IL at a barber shop in the city’s 5th Ward as aldermen prepare to launch the first reparations program for Black citizens in U.S. history.
Image + Edit by Jacob Kessler
Wishing Well
Docu-fiction short studying a desperate game of video slots at a Chicago convenience store casino.
Image + Edit by Jacob Kessler
Brownstones
Narrative short examining a Brooklyn couple as they debate how to handle their neighbors' frequent loud parties, exposing flaws in their relationship that mirror the role they play in gentrifying the neighborhood they've moved into.
Written, Directed, & Produced by Jacob Kessler
Cinematography by Liam Dillon
Edited by Nicholas Sutera
Varicose Veins
Music video for album "Peace Out Cruel World" by NYC post-punk band Whiner, featuring a sleepwalk through a memory-laden cityscape triggering lustful dreams.
Directed by Jacob Kessler
Produced by Cole Greenbaun, Austin Chen, Charles Lee, & Jacob Kessler
Cinematography by Liam Dillon
Edited by Nicholas Sutera & Jacob Kessler
Watch: Full Video