ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a multimedia artist exploring the themes of power and
metamorphosis through narrative fiction, documentary, and
experimental filmmaking. My first experimental films explored
personal disempowerment. These early works expanded into
stories about structural and interpersonal systems of control
that compromise protagonists’ agency and force them to make
impossible choices.
My narrative fiction films mainly focus on women, and my visual
language contains feminist undertones that show resilience in the
face of violence. Foreshortened compositions and high-ratio
lighting disfigure character’s bodies and produce feelings of
claustrophobia and disorientation. I use handheld camera work
that feels unstable, further emphasizing the characters' emotional
turmoil and insecure positionality. Despite these violent visual
tendencies, I also employ techniques that communicate hope and strength. The function of light and space in religious architecture inspires my aesthetic. Streaming light in wide shots creates a sense of openness and a feeling of spiritual transformation. Vibrant colors throughout my work speak to the vitality and strength of my characters.
In my experimental practice, I work with digital, 16mm, and 35mm film. I focus on direct animation techniques for my analog projects. To create my animations, I sew colorful thread directly onto the film, which punctures and scars the emulsion. This approach links domesticity and violence and reflects the feminist ideologies that are embedded in my work.
In 2024, I co-directed "In Terram: A Love Letter to Gaza,” in collaboration with Nina Zehri that screened at the Salem Film Fest. This short documentary uses resistance symbology and intercuts the sounds of the Pro-Palestinian March in DC with the direct animation imprints of protestors' footsteps on 16mm as they marched. The film portrays the worldwide resistance echoing from the grief of Palestinian people who are experiencing genocide at the hands of Israel.
In 2023, I directed "Sister, Deliverer,” a speculative fiction short film. The story follows Mara, a middle-aged woman who is tasked with disposing of her sister's body following a government-mandated "decompose-in-place" law. When Mara cannot bear to go through with the archaic governmental process, she decides to smuggle her sister's body out of the city to give her a proper burial. The film will be released digitally in 2024.
In 2017, I directed and edited "Mass Dissent," a mini-feature documentary that screened at Arts at the Armory. This documentary investigates the downfall and rebuild of the Massachusetts Lawyers Guild during the McCarthyism era, as well as the housing justice work of residents and National Lawyers Guild members in Roxbury, MA.
In 2017, I worked alongside Emma Guy in co-directing "Dear Goddess,” an epistolary documentary awarded Best Experimental at the Southern Sunset Undergraduate Film Festival. “Dear Goddess” discusses the power dynamics of sex work through the story of a non-binary college student who sells old shoes online to a man who embezzles his company's money to pay for their services.
Currently, I am in production on an upcoming narrative fiction film, “Broken Blisters”, a semi-autobiographical narrative fiction short film following a union effort at a crowd canvassing office. This project will complete my MFA degree in Visual Media Studies at Emerson College.
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BIO
Emma Angen Rose is a filmmaker and writer born and based in Boston, Massachusetts. As a freelance editor and director, she has worked with high-profile clients including PBS, the Massachusetts Lawyers Guild, Columbia University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work has been screened and exhibited nationally and internationally.
Rose has also trained as a special education teacher. Having been diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, Rose closely links her passion for film with a curiosity quenched through visual storytelling and a love of alternative learning. She has taught at Swiss Institute/GO PROJECT, Eye-to-Eye Project, and Summer Arts at CSW. As well as creating EDx programs at Columbia University and MIT as a director and editor.
