A moment with ... Lorian T. Elbert, documentary filmmaker

Monday, February 24, 2003

By REGINA HACKETT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER ART CRITIC

In the tradition of Fred Wiseman and Erroll Morris, Seattle's Lorian T. Elbert has created a pair of documentary portraits of Seattle halfway houses for the mentally ill.

The second, titled "Dignity II," focuses on the closure last year of Mercer Inn, the only all-female home for the mentally ill in King County. Lyrical and moving, running 60 minutes, "Dignity II" screens Thursday night at 8 at the Little Theater, 608 19th Ave. E., sponsored by the Northwest Film Forum. Tickets are $7 general, $4.50 members. For more information, go to www.schizonphrenia.healthyplace2.com


	Elbert

How did you get started as a documentary filmmaker?

I backed into it, I think. In 1997, I got a (master of fine arts) degree from UCLA in film, TV and screen writing, but I was more interested in painting, photography and writing than film. One day I went into this thrift store in San Pedro, not knowing it was a halfway house, and was completely struck by the faces of the residents. One guy looked like Popeye at age 120. He was missing fingers and told me he'd been tortured by Castro. I photographed there for a year, then I came up here.

Why Seattle?

In Los Angeles, I'd tell people I was photographing the mentally ill, and they'd say, 'Why would you want to do that?' In Seattle, people tend to brighten and say, 'That's interesting.' I wanted to do a book with my photos as well as poems and statements from the residents, but nobody wanted to publish it. I thought, maybe I could do digital film. It's cheap to make and sell. Everybody's got a VCR. I took classes at 911 (Media Arts Center) and got a 911 grant for $1,000. There may be someplace like 911 in Los Angeles, but I never found it.

Do you have any prior experience with the mentally ill?

I don't think so. But my films aren't about me. I get out of the way and let the subjects present themselves. The people I met doing these films have gone through so much suffering. They don't edit themselves. They're like children but with incredible life experiences. The problem is they're sponges. They soak up feelings and choke on them. They can be really funny, too. I loved the wall of doorbells and kept photographing it. A woman said to me, 'You're taking photos of the doorbells, and I'm the one who's considered schizophrenic.'

What are you hoping people get out of seeing your work?

I want them to be moved. Maybe they'll volunteer at a halfway house or maybe they'll be nice to somebody on the bus. And maybe enough people will be interested and I can get some kind of distribution going.

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