Rita Ribas

2012-01-22T10:47:00.001Z

Buttonhead, "Mouth Of Sundials" (3 mins)

From the forthcoming album 3D Opera Whale. Available soon at horsearm.com.

Somewhere between a music video and a documentary. Shot in Porto, Portugal.

2010-10-11T17:05:00.001+01:00

My photos on Flickr

2010-06-11T11:26:00.001+01:00

2010-06-11T10:36:00.020+01:00

Museum Of Miracles (3 mins)

Set around a small shrine in Portugal this film follows the daily rituals of an archivist who spends her time cataloging and displaying the various objects that devotees offer to the local Saint in the hope that their prayers will be answered.

Director: Rita Ribas
Editor: Dave Green
Music: Ross Blake
Sound Mix: Joe Bell
Colourist: Dominic Robson-Smith

Funded by IdeasTap

Screened at the Rushes Soho Shorts Festival, the Branchage Film Festival and DocHeads.

My film blog

2010-03-26T17:11:00.004Z

CV

Click on the image below to enlarge.

2010-01-28T19:31:00.008Z

Still Films

Some of my films have been selected for the Open Prize and were exhibited at the Nichols and Clarke warehouse and at the Hay Art Festival.

2009-11-10T10:39:00.008Z

The Light Surgeons

During my internship at The Light Surgeons, a multimedia arts collective, I assisted with the research, shooting and editing of a variety of film and multimedia projects including the documentary Schlimazeltov! commissioned by the UK Jewish Film Festival, and LDN24, a media art installation for the Museum of London's Sackler Hall. My role also involved helping to manage the studio and developing the collectives' web-presence.

2009-11-10T10:21:00.005Z

Turner And The Masters: Behind The Scenes

During my three-month work placement at the Tate I assisted with the production of in-gallery and web-based films including the monthly TateShots program as well as films for television broadcast. Above is an example of one of the films I edited for the Tate Channel.

2009-10-12T21:27:00.009+01:00

Heaven
(6 mins)

Thinking about heaven and death whilst wondering through an overgrown Victorian cemetery.

Special thanks to Abney Park Cemetery, the dogs and their owners.

2008-12-06T12:43:00.005Z

Strangers Waving Goodbye

(idea in progress)

Film 1:

Stand on Embankment bridge and film tourists on boat trips as they wave to the people on dry land.

Film 2:

A film about people that have the urge to push strangers in front of tube trains, or people who have a fear of being pushed.

Both of these films evoke ways in which people attempt to reach out and connect with others, one positive and one negative. And also the crossing of boundaries - waving to someone you don’t know is a risk just like pushing someone in front of a moving train. Both are about trying to reach out and also trying to ‘test’ reality.

And waving goodbye - and the big goodbye of death

These two films could be interweaved into one film or even shown as an installation, where each film runs parallel to each other. hmmm must develop this idea further.

2008-12-06T11:57:00.012Z

Dog Heaven

(work in progress)

Bessie, our family dog, passed away recently.
This got me thinking about the strange relationship people have with their pets.
I love to observe the interaction between pets and their owners, and how the owners project emotions onto their somewhat oblivious pets.

I'm currently working on a short film that involves going to an overgrown cemetery and interviewing dog owners about their pets' idea of heaven and death.

Maybe I'll make drawings of these dog heavens and display them along with the interviews.

Some of my favorite films involving pets and owners:
Ulrich Seidl's "Animal Love"
Errol Morris' "Gates of Heaven"

2008-12-06T11:42:00.005Z

Things That Could Happen On A Daily Basis

This series of digital drawings was awarded the Wimbledon College of Art Drawing Prize '06.

2008-11-26T23:08:00.016Z

Milk Of The Islands

(idea in progress)

I've always wanted to make a film about fog.
Apparently the foggiest place on earth is located just off the coast of Canada, somewhere in the ocean.

In the summer I went on a trip to the Azores, a group of Portuguese islands, of volcanic composition, in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.

Here there's lots of fog. The clouds seem to travel low when they cross the ocean, so the mountains on the islands are almost always shrouded in clouds.

Lots of fog and many cows and hardly anyone around, not even tourists.

What struck me about the island was how tidy it was.
There are always gardeners taking care of the flowers and plants. Every bit of roadside is neatly arranged, a bit like a greenhouse.
Also, people spoke in thick accents that I couldn't understand.
The food was a bit bland, except for the delicious milk, butter and cheeses.
Of course, the cows are so happy and the grass is so green, of course the milks would be sweet and tasty and fresh.

Milk and fog.
Two of my favorite things from the Azores, and two things that I think go beautifully together and that could really be explored visually and symbolically.

Below is a short film I made to try and think a little more about my idea.

All I need is some funding, some good equipment, and to learn how to drive again.

2008-11-14T09:41:00.011Z

Milk Of The Islands

Milk Of The Islands is a short film poem that takes your senses on a journey to the Azores and offers an intimate glimpse into the art of making milk.

Whats special about the Azores?

A film that attempts to capture the essence of the Azores - its land, its people, its spirit.

The superstitions - focus on this? How are superstitions formed and why do they stick?
Superstitions can be very revealing of the character of the people.
Weird beliefs – superstitions
Superstitions linked to Milk? Fog? Cows?

Collect poems written by the farmers about milk
Or depending on the farmers interests/abilities, ask them to paint/draw a picture, sing a song, do a dance, write a poem, cook a dish with milk…

Traditional foods of Azores that use milk?

The power / brutality of the natural world and how it shapes the people as well as the land

This is a film about place:
Island - isolation - middle of the Atlantic ocean
Sub-tropical
Greenhouse
Immense vegetation - manicured
Fog
Sun
Blue sea like no other
Rugged people
People that like roadside picnics
Uncanny
Familiar but not
Volcanoes
Whales
Green
Sea-travel - navigators - discovery

Milk - mother – homeland

Famous Azoreans?
Traditional stories from Azores?
Azores – foreign farmers? Ex-pats?

How do I place myself within the Azores scenario and within the film itself?
Do I want to include myself?

How does ‘Beautifully Engineered’ fit with this theme
Engineered – a place created by nature, a people shaped by place, beliefs and superstitions imagined by people
And a film about the beauty and strangeness of the island engineered into a visual poem

The heart of the film is milk, because milk is the heart of the island
After all, it’s the biggest industry
And milk is symbolic of life – life giving force – baby’s first food
Focus on milk to find the spirit of the island and its people
The milk that they drink becomes a part of them, brought up on the milk
They drink the milk they drink the island

The heart of the film is the milk, but the film will also be peppered with observations of the island – I will ask farmers to share their thoughts about milk and to write a poem about milk

The film will be a visual poem constructed of observations of the island and its people.
The heart and focus of the film is the art of making milk

Milk is –
Milk is –
What is milk to the people of the Azores?
What is milk to the farmers?
Do they have beliefs or superstitions about milk?
Because they do have superstitions about… and…
And superstitions are very revealing and milk is very revealing.

A very personal film – capture how I see and feel things

David Yezzi - Azores: Poems
Azores - Picture and poem about Sete Cidades lake
Ireland - Milk Symbolism - interesting, could make connections

2008-10-17T15:57:00.032+01:00

About Me

If you're looking to collaborate or would like to get in touch you can contact me at ritaribas@hotmail.co.uk.

2008-10-14T11:51:00.021+01:00

Old Home
(4 mins )

2008-10-13T17:54:00.012+01:00

Being Mother
(7 mins)

2008-10-13T17:41:00.015+01:00

Tia
(5 mins 40 secs)

2008-10-13T17:12:00.010+01:00

Summer At The Farm (3 mins)

2008-09-29T13:22:00.014+01:00

Untitled drawings

2008-09-29T10:58:00.004+01:00

They Were Very Angry At One Another

Matchsticks on cardboard shelf.

2008-09-29T10:39:00.005+01:00

Things That Could Happen On A Daily Basis (2006)

This series of digital drawings was awarded the Wimbledon College of Art Drawing Prize '06.

2008-09-27T16:58:00.007+01:00

Friends

Black and white photos of household objects.

2008-09-27T15:28:00.014+01:00

We spent Christmas at my grandmother's farm. We were sitting in the lounge with the fire on and she was very proud of the cabbages she had grown.

2008-09-27T13:48:00.016+01:00

The Factory

These are some of the photographs I took at a factory in Portugal. The factory makes plastic packaging for food as well as small rubber parts.

2008-09-27T13:19:00.022+01:00

White Cube

2008-09-27T11:32:00.053+01:00

The Fire
(15 mins)

The Fire is an experimental short documenting a family gathering at a farm in Portugal to celebrate Easter. It is an atmospheric snapshot of a family, a farm and the story of a tragic fire.

Screened at the Parnu Film Festival (Estonia) and the London International Documentary Festival (UK).

Text about The Fire written by artist Yuki Higashino:

"An evocation of the past, “The Fire” composes the sense of loss and mourning through the flow of fragmented everyday.

Elusive yet serene images of a family history emerge through the film, loosely organised around the story of the tragic death of a baby in a fire many years ago.
History is understood in the piece not as a linear progression, but a web of memory, contradictory evidences, imagery and atmosphere. The film’s structure reflects this notion of history with its absence of a coherent narrative. Coherence, however, is generated through consistency in the camera work and editing, which metaphorically reproduces and, in a sense, accelerates the fragmentation of historical progression (close-ups of body parts, TV footages taken out of context, abrupt cuts, etc.); and the constant reappearance of certain motifs such as the image of fire or children confronting death and decay.

“The Fire” can be descried as a depiction of an extended family, a disappearing social unit, engaging in various family rituals. These seemingly trivial events slowly reveal the theatricality of the everyday, and turn these taken-for-granted occasions into uncanny ceremonies. Old women’s recollections are repeatedly juxtaposed with children playing, making the feeling of looming death even more acute.

Fire is destructive and at times lethal, but the viewer is offered only a calm account of its consequence; in the same way one is left only with the sound of fire’s seductive force, fireworks."