BOSTON — From Bostonian filmmaker Shevaun Mizrahi, Turkey-set documentary “Distant Constellation” features survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Mizrahi’s award-winning documentary introduces us to the colorful residents of an Istanbul retirement home — a community made up of pranksters, historians, artists and Casanovas — who reveal their stories for the camera, discussing distant sexual conquests, artistic pursuits put an end to by dimmed sight, and inescapable memories of war and the Armenian genocide. An Independent Spirit Award nominee, Mizrahi’s dreamy, Tarkovskian film opens November 2 with the director present in New York and runs till November 8 at The Metrograph (http://metrograph.com/film/film/1828/distant-constellation), November 9 in Chicago (Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art in Evanston, Illinois) and November 26 in Boston again with the director present at the Brattle Theatre (http://www.brattlefilm.org/2018/11/26/distant-constellation/) followed by a national release via Grasshopper Film: http://grasshopperfilm.com/film/distant-constellation/.
“Distant Constellation” world premiered in Locarno where it received the Jury’s Special Mention Award. The film won the FIPRESCI Award at Viennale and Best Picture Prize at Jeonju International Film Festival. “Distant Constellation” was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and Film Comment placed the film in its list of Best Undistributed Films of 2017.
“Distant Constellation” is Shevaun Mizrahi’s first feature film. It is 82 minutes long, and in Turkish, English, Armenian and French. Shevaun shot the film as a one-woman crew in Istanbul over a 6 year period. She received earlier training as a photographer and then went on to study cinematography at NYU and was the assistant to Ed Lachman (“Carol,” “Wonderstruck”) for several years. The film reflects on the nature of time, memory and the cycles of life in a sensually playful cinematic way. Most recently Shevaun was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for her work on the film.
