Patrik Eriksson's short film Wozek (The Cart) opens the Fall 2015 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, September 11!

Patrik Eriksson’s short film Wózek (The Cart) opens the Fall 2015 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, September 11 at Rutgers University!

One of my personal favorites at the upcoming New Jersey Film Festival is the short film Wózek (The Cart) by Patrik Eriksson. In this hauntingly beautiful -- almost wordless -- experimental film, a young woman fulfills a mysterious task, as she moves through an existential dreamscape. The set and atmosphere are very reminiscent of parts of David Lynch’s Eraserhead where the sounds and darkness envelope and at times overwhelms the characters.

The film begins in medium close up as we watch the young woman struggling to push an old creaky wooden cart that is filled with water. The cart is slowly leaking it’s liquid contents and we get the sense there is something in the water. At measured intervals she is approached by other women who are successively older. The first woman, who looks like she is in her 30s, questions the cart pusher on why she is bothering to push a leaky cart. The young woman does not respond and we get our first glimpse of what is in the water but aren’t sure what it is.

The film is quite hermetic as we rarely see any long shots. Close ups and medium shots are predominant. After ramming her cart through a line of empty carts, she is approached by another older woman (in her 40s) who also mentions that the cart is leaking and that she should get another one. She approaches the cart and tries to grab at what is in the water but the young woman in defiance pulls the cart away from her and moves past her. While she moves forward we see close-up shots of the sea creature inside.

We begin to hear the sound of the ocean and are introduced to the last woman who is an old lady but she says nothing and just glares at the young woman who now takes the cart and empties it’s contents into the ocean. Her task completed she contemplates the water and the film ends.

One gets the sense that in many ways this brief oneiric film allegory -- like a Sisyphean journey -- will somehow be endlessly repeated. A brilliant short film by a young filmmaker who obviously has lots of talent and I look forward to seeing his feature film next year.

Patrik Eriksson was born in northern Sweden in 1978. Since 2011 he has been studying editing and directing at the National Film School in Lodz, Poland. Patrik debuted in 2013 with the short film Who Is Arvid Pekon? which toured at numerous festivals around the world. In 2015 he completed the experimental short Wózek (The Cart). His films usually feature strange and haunting worlds where new rules await the protagonists. Neither sci-fi nor fantasy, the films draws on the tradition of weird, with stories having a face of their own. Patrik is currently developing a feature script for his 2016 long form 
debut.

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The Cart will be screened prior to the feature film Rosehill on Friday, September 11. Here is more info on this program:

The Cart - Patrik Eriksson (Lodz, Poland) In this hauntingly beautiful experimental film, a young woman fulfills a mysterious task, as she moves through an existential dreamscape. 2015; 7 min.

Rosehill - Brigitta Wagner (Haworth, New Jersey) Expertly weaving together improvised and scripted scenes, Rosehill is an intimate feature film that delves into the lives of two women. After receiving some devastating news from her boyfriend, Katriona escapes New York to visit her best friend, who works as a sex researcher at Indiana University. When the two women decide to embark on a road trip through mid-western America, they find out more about one another, and more about the resilience of the human spirit, than they could have predicted. 2015;
78 min. With an introduction and Q+A session with Director Brigitta Wagner!

Friday, September 11, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.

Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University

71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey

$10=General; $9=Students+Seniors; $8=Rutgers Film Co-op Friends

Information: (848) 932-8482; www.njfilmfest.com

Free Food courtesy of Jimmy Johns of New Brunswick will be given out prior to this screening of the New Jersey Film Festival!