Institute History
Description
If you have ever been captivated by the idea that a photograph can suddenly and magically come to life right before your eyes, then the elegant films of Sharon Lockhart are your siren call. With her fifth film, Pine Flat, the photographer/filmmaker returns to Sundance (Goshogaoka played in the 1998 Film Festival) with an exquisitely crafted, penetrating, and intimate portrait of rural American childhood.
Set in the foothills of the stunning Sierra Nevada, Pine Flat is a delectable series of observations of children in both their quiet and quirky solitude, as well as their awkward and rambunctious interactions with each other. Seasons come and go, the blush of innocence yields to exploration and conquest, and Lockhart's camera follows with an extraordinary sense of color, sound, and composition that permeates the senses and transports the viewer into the atmospheric world inside the film frame.
Pine Flat extends a playful invitation to meditate on solitude, nature, and socialization, an invitation that is difficult to deny. You may even find it hard to walk out of the clever, filmic intermission! Alternately ticklish, amusing, comforting, and haunting, Pine Flat rewards the patient and open-minded viewer with a remarkable journey through a beautiful mountain landscape and the poignant moments of childhood.