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TRYON—Tryon Arts and Crafts School is inviting the community to attend the Tryon premiere of local filmmakers Isaac King and Tristan Turner’s short film “Swannanoan Silt” on April 17 at 6 p.m. The film will also be accompanied by a live musical score by the filmmakers’ collaborator, Agis Shaw.

On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene wreaked catastrophic damage in North Carolina, including the small town of Swannanoa, which, according to its fire chief, Anthony Penland, experienced “total devastation.”

This unique film, created by two experimental filmmakers, addresses that continuing devastation. It is not a traditional documentary but an artistic, abstract, yet heartfelt approach to this cataclysmic event. 

Isaac King, a native South Carolinian, centers his film practice around handmade and recycled cinema while embracing the artistry of amateur filmmaking. He often uses celluloid film, manipulating its flexible materiality. His work and research focus on matters of representation and socio-ecological metamorphosis, particularly in the South.

Tristan Turner hails from Asheville and believes cinema is a “boundless platform of human expression.” His work aims to merge the past, via 16mm film, and the present, via digital film, to interrogate the medium of film and its aesthetic limits. By blending the two, Turner attempts to create “something both familiar and alien.”

“Swannanoan Silt” is a two-channel live projection performance examining how communities in Western North Carolina cope and rebuild in the aftermath of the hurricane. The simultaneously projected filmed footage and slides engage directly with the hurricane’s ecological impact since the film itself was processed in the contaminated Swannanoa and French Broad Rivers. 

Ultimately, King and Turner aim to highlight the extraordinary perseverance, empathy, and dedication of our mountain communities in helping one another in the face of catastrophic adversity. 

After its screening, the filmmakers will engage in a Q&A and discussion period with the audience. Six months after the hurricane struck, with repairs, recovery, and rebuilding still ongoing into the far future, Tryon Arts and Crafts School hopes the community will join us for this timely premiere.

Polk County Film Initiative is the key event sponsor for “Swannanoan Silt.” New View Realty, Overmountain Vineyards, Nature’s Storehouse, Tryon Theatre, and Biltmore Wines are lead corporate sponsors of TACS, which also receives key funding from Polk County Community Foundation, North Carolina Arts Council, Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, the Anna and Nathan Flax Foundation, and the Florence V. Burden Foundation.