We will live to see these things... is a documentary video in five parts about competing visions of an uncertain future. Shot in 2005/06 in Damascus, Syria, the work combines fiction and non-fiction. Each section of the piece--the chronicle of a building in downtown Damascus, an interview with a dissident intellectual, documentation of an equestrian event, the fever dream of a U.S. policymaker, and a portrait of a Qur'an school for young girls--offers a different perspective on what might come to pass in a place where people live between the competing forces of a repressive regime, a growing conservative Islamic movement, and intense pressure from the United States. Produced and directed by Julia Meltzer Written and directed by David Thorne Music and sound design by Chris Kubick Edited by Catherine Hollander Camera by Raed Sandeed
we will live to see these things, or, five pictures of what may come to pass
Julia Meltzer
2007 00:47:04 United StatesEnglishColorStereo4:3VideoDescription
About Julia Meltzer
Julia Meltzer is a media artist and executive director of Clockshop, a non-profit production company based in Los Angeles. Her works are realized in video, installation, and performance presentations. Her video works include State of Emergency: Inside the L.A.P.D. (with Elizabeth Canner, 30:00,1993), Room Service (15:00, 1994), Conversation Piece (20:00, 1997), and It's not my memory of it (with David Thorne, 25:00, 2003). Installations include <chatlandia> (with Amanda Ramos, 1995-97) and Baggage Claim (1997-98).
Her work has been exhibited and broadcast at venues including Creative Time's Art in the Anchorage, The New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York), Mass MOCA (West Adams, Massachusetts), Forum Stadtpark (Graz, Austria), the Dutch Electronic Arts Festival (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) and on selected PBS television stations. She has taught video and digital media at Hampshire College and UC Irvine.