Official Selection and Golden Gate Award winner for the 2010 San Francisco International Film Festival
HD Video, 18 minutes TRT, release date Oct. 16th, 2009 at Southern Exposure, San Francisco
Embrace of the Irrational production still
Embrace of the Irrational, begins as what appears to be an hour long educational video written and directed by the fictitious Martin Thebes. It centers around a meditation on the Romantics’ ideal of emotional confusion as a way to find truth. But then the film slowly unravels as the production becomes mired in technical and interpersonal crisis. The film features the acting talents of Jon Ingbretson and Ali Dadgar and the cinematography of Shane King and the sound design work of Chris Kubick. It was filmed on location at the J.B. Blunk residency in Pt. Reyes and the Oakland Museum of California. Special thanks to Bi Rite Market, Kika’s Treats, and Four Barrel Coffee for keeping the cast and crew feed and happy.
The film was commissioned by Southern Exposure and was installed as part of their Bellwether exhibition, Oct-Dec 2009 in San Francisco.
Promotional Video
Production Credits
Produced, written and directed by Jonn Herschend
Director of Photography…………………………………. Shane King
Sound Design …………………………………………………Chris Kubick
First Assistant Director…………………………………… Heather Duthie
Chief Lighting Technician…………………………………Mark Bassett
PA/ Boom Operator……………………………………….. Alex Winter
PA/ Boom Operator……………………………………….. James Defebaugh
Production Assistant ……………………………………….Adam Behrmann
Production Assistant………………………………………. Evan Omi
Production Assistant………………………………………. Zehra Nabi
Wardrobe Consultation……………………………………New Factory, Friend
Production Stills……………………………………………..Lenny Gonzalez
Cast in order of Appearance
Jon Ingbretson ……………………………………………… Martin Thebes
Christina Lowery ……………………………………………Trouble PA
Cody Giannotti ……………………………………………….First AD
Andrew Kaluzynski………………………………………… Sound Man
Ayn Slavis……………………………………………………….Sound PA
Courtney Fink………………………………………………….PA1
James Coburn………………………………………………….PA2
Ali Dadgar ………………………………………………………Director
Matthew Troy ………………………………………………….Cinematographer
Adam Behrmann……………………………………………. Script Supervisor
Erin Coker ………………………………………………………2nd Unit documentary camera
Diana Strong …………………………………………………..Museum boom operator
Valerie Imus…………………………………………………….Museum liaison
Maysoun Wazwaz……………………………………………..PA 3
Audrey t. Morgan Delgado ………………………………..PA4
Jonn Herschend……………………………………………….himself
Alex Winter……………………………………………………. forest boom operator
Music
Beethoven’s symphony No. 6 ‘Pastoral’
Food and drinks provided by:
Shot on Location at:
J.B. Blunk Residency, Inverness CA
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland CA
Special Thanks
Southern Exposure
Maysoun Wazwaz
Kelsey Nicholson
Courtney Fink
J.B. Blunk Residency
Mariah Nielson
Oakland Museum of California
René de Guzman
Joy Tahan
Carolyn Rissanen
Gavin Lee
Christopher Richard
Additional Thanks
Sean Uyehara
Max Fink
Will Rogan
Targol Mesbah
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Sam Mogannam
Cristina Besher
Ben Hess
Hugo Herschend
Hannah Herschend
A Big Thanks with love to Max Schroder for keeping it all from coming apart
This film was commissioned by Southern Exposure, San Francisco
Not Working so Well © 2009