Documentary filmmaker showcases unique style

  UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television "King of the
Jews" is one of the short documentaries by Jay Rosenblatt which
will be shown at the James Bridges Theater tonight at 7:30 p.m.

By Angela Salazar
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Jay Rosenblatt will search the globe to find the perfect film
footage.

“I will sometimes just scour through hundreds of films
looking for images that I think will work with the story I am
trying to tell,” said Rosenblatt, an experimental documentary
filmmaker with a style all his own.

Rosenblatt uniquely combines pieces of old film footage he finds
to make collages that convey his stories and experiences.

“The style came about for many different reasons, one
economic, another control, another the love of the editing process
and also I felt like the form fit the subject,” he said.

Rosenblatt will present his short films at the James Bridges
Theater tonight. Following the screening he will be available for a
question-and-answer session with the audience. In addition,
Rosenblatt will teach a special film workshop on Saturday. The
events are free and open to everyone, sponsored by the UCLA School
of Theater, Film and Television in cooperation with the
International Documentary Association.

“(The workshop) will deal with questions that the
participants have about my work and my method of working,” he
said. “It’s very informal and will depend a lot on what
people that attend need and want, so its going to be more
interactive.”

Although Rosenblatt does not often do workshops, he sees them as
a good opportunity to get feedback from his audience.

“I like showing the work and then interacting with the
audience around the actual film,” he said. “I
don’t think we’ll get to all the questions on friday
night so if people have time to think about the film they might
come up with some more questions they can bring up on
Saturday.”

Among the films being screened will be Rosenblatt’s
originals, “Human Remains,” “The Smell of Burning
Ants” and “King of the Jews.”

“They’re all about issues that I feel are important
in the world,” he said. “I made “˜Human
Remains’ so people would hopefully explore the nature of evil
and how we’re all responsible for what happens in the
world.”

Rosenblatt went on to explain that “The Smell of Burning
Ants” deals with the problems of male socialization and how
men are taught to disavow their feminine side while “King of
the Jews” is about Christian anti-semitism.

He doesn’t feel that any of his work fits into a
particular genre.

“My films are not easily classifiable. Some are
experimental documentaries, some are experimental
narratives,” he said. “I make all different types of
films.”

Rosenblatt first started making films while in graduate school
for counseling almost 20 years ago.

“I took a film class and I fell in love with the process
and I’ve been making films since then,” he said.

Although he enjoys his work, Rosenblatt admits that it is not
always easy or fast, with some films taking as long as three years
to complete.

“It takes a lot of research and a lot of time,” he
said.

The images and ideas for Rosenblatt’s films come from a
variety of places.

“Sometimes an image can trigger an idea and then I go
searching for more images that will back up that idea or other
times it starts with an idea and I go searching for images that
will work with the film,” he said.

Although it is sometimes easy to gain access to the type of
footage he wants, the actual process of finding old film images
that are appropriate and usable is difficult.

“(Sometimes) I have to buy footage from collectors or go
to archive houses looking for images, looking through their
catalogue, things like that,” he said.

When his work is done, however, the film is his reward. The
messages he hopes to convey with each piece are achieved in a
creative form.

“I want to make a film that audiences will relate to and
find intriguing, moving and provocative,” he said. “I
want to be pleased with it, that’s my number one goal. I
never finish a film until I feel like I’ve done all I can to
make it a good film.”

DOCUMENTARY: Rosenblatt’s films show at 7:30 p.m. tonight
at the James Bridges Theater, followed by a question-and-answer
session with the director.