GROCERY SHOPPING, 38min., USA
Directed by Harry Roseman
I am at the grocery store three to five times a week. It has become a ritual, picking out the items, going over the shopping list, interacting with the same people year after year. It seems to me, an important aspect of my and many other people’s lives. Something utterly familiar. Though filmed it becomes somewhat mysterious, seen anew, to be rethought about.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

My work takes many forms. An aspect of some of my work in photography, installation, and film centers on my interactions with people in my community as I go about doing errands. I had done some shorter film focused on checking out at the register with my purchases. These interactions are important to me because of the frequent interactions I have with the same people over months and years. They are specific kinds of relationships, These exchanges have an aspect of friendship, though bracketed by the relatively brief interchanges but enlarged by time and repetition. This film stems from those interactions, but also a way of showing a frequent and mundane activity as being worthy and possibly interesting as art. Possibly giving the viewer a new take on their own regular day to day activities, In addition I found aspects of the visual possibilities rather beautiful, as still lives, such as piles of fruits and vegetables. The added addition of bits of conversation that either I had with people or overheard was also interesting to me.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you
to make this film?

The film all took place on a single shopping trip. It was originally about twice as long and then edited. The editing took a few days, so the whole process wasn't that long.

One though, might include the related films and some of my work leading up to this film as integral to making this work.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Casual and Thoughtful

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Having to do all the filming with one hand and the shopping with the other.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking
about your film in the feedback video?

I was very curious to hear what viewers thought about this film.

Though straight forward, I felt I was asking a lot of the viewer to watch a film where on the surface it didn't feel like much was happening. I got a kick out of the person who kept thinking they were missing something fundamental about the film and said at one point that they thought it felt like possibly I didn't know the camera was running. It made me laugh and think about the lack of self-consciousness that the film has. Which strangely may not be the easiest thing to do.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

My work, as I previously mentioned, continues on a number of paths. Most children do draw, which I did. But I also took photographs continually since I was about ten years old. My first impulse to make a film was probably in 1968 on a trip to Europe, which would have been more like a GIF. But I have not made that work, but weirdly do have in mind to go back to those photographs and make a short animation. The first film I made was in 1963, which I had done when in art school and was a live action film. I have made a number of films in between then and now. I have been steadily making more films since 2013 both live action and animations.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Probably The Umbrellas of Cherboug.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other
festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking
career?

Just being discerning audiences and helping more people see the films is always desired. I consider myself an artist in a general way and even though, like all of us, I like recognition for what I do, I don't see the films I make as being particularly commercial. So, I don't really know how to respond to the idea of a career as it is usually thought about.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

Excellent

10. What is your favorite meal?

Do you mean breakfast, lunch or supper, or what foods?

I shop often and only cook sometimes. My wife is a great gook so I get to eat extroardinary meals frequently.

Not sure if this is relevant to the question, but I am crazy for custards.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

At this time I am in the midst of two films. One is also partly about shopping. It is a Thanksgiving film. That includes four days of shopping, more interaction with other people and the meal and guests as well. The other film is the 14th in a series of experimental animations that I have been working on since 2019 (the series, not number #14).

They are about a trip I took to China in 1987 and only use still photographs (about 3,500) I took on that trip and the sound tracks come only from recordings (about 30 hours) I also produced on that trip. I knew I was going to make something out of that body of work but it took me over thirty years to figure out what that consisted of.

I have been working on #14 for probably 6 months and it will probably be another 6 months before it is completed. I have the first 12 in this series on a website named - www.harryroseman-china1987.com.

Some of those have also been screened in film festivals, both in NYC and internationally.