This article gives the background to the project.
In 2003, Yu (winner of the 1997 short documentary Oscar for "Breathing Lessons") was asked by Greg Carr and Noble Smith of the Carr Foundation to make a documentary about the Greek playwright Euripides. "This was not an obvious documentary subject, like the new homeless shelter downtown, and when I heard it I did laugh out loud," Yu remembers. "No image came to my mind; it was a complete blank slate. Usually with documentaries, you have to have the concept hammered out before you look for funding. Here, the attention was on the process of discovery; it was 'see what you make of it.'"
What she made out of it was a film that profiled four men and compared their lives to the Greek tragedy of Euripedes. The men were a German terrorist, a bank robber, an "ex-gay" evangelist, and a martial arts student. All of them felt their lives were heading in the wrong direction and took measures to change. As the picture above illustrates, the movie also features wooden rod puppets performing scenes from Euripedes' plays as well as reenacting scenes from the lives of the subjects. Amidst all this are several short bits of animation.
It'd be great if it ends up at the Wisconsin Film Festival this spring. Otherwise I'll look for it on DVD. If my barebones description sounds interesting, listen to an interview with director Jessica Yu up at the Sundance blog.
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