Dwelling: A Measure of Life in the Atlanta Forest
Dwelling: A Measure of Life in the Atlanta Forest (2023, 40 min.) follows one Atlanta forest defender's quixotic attempt to build a hut by hand in the forest occupation at the center of the fight against Cop City. By patiently following the building process over several months, the observational film explores how the utopian spirit of the movement meets the practical challenges of living in the forest. As the political struggle unfolds offscreen, the film contemplates the nature of work, technology, and making a home.
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Between 2021-2023, hundreds of people occupied a 517-acre forest in southeast Atlanta to prevent the construction of the largest police training center in the country. The occupation's basic function was to slow time: delaying construction until the project became too expensive or unpopular to continue. While spending time in the forest, I became interested in the creative challenge of sustaining everyday life. Filming in the forest was constrained by an intense security culture -- most people, anticipating state repression, used pseudonyms and avoided cameras. I found that a deliberate, observational approach enabled me to work creatively within this constraint, as it gave Fruitbat and me time to develop trust in each other and in our abilities as carpenter and filmmaker. Fruitbat accepted a great deal of risk in allowing me to film, as did I; the film is, among other things, a record of shared risk and trust.
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Image, sound, editing: Sasha Tycko
Additional sound recording: Marion Lary
Sound mixing: T. Sweeney
Past screenings:
5/10/25 - 69a, Brattleboro, VT
4/23/25 - Tufts University, Somerville, MA
4/8/25 - Watauga Public Library, Boone, NC
2/2/25 - Spectacle Theater, Brooklyn, NY
1/17/25 - Institute 193, Lexington, KY
5/16/24 - Block Cinema, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
4/18/24 - Emory University, Atlanta, GA
3/6/24 - Central Cinema, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
2/23/24 - Arcata, CA
1/19/24 - Pilsen Community Books, Chicago, IL
1/18/24 - Irma Freeman Center, Pittsburgh, PA
1/11/24 - Bolo Bolo, Athens, GA
12/10/23 - South Bend Commons, Atlanta, GA
Press & Hearsay:
“Dwelling within the Invasion,” Mergoat Magazine 2 (1), 2024 [PDF]
"A new genre: anarchist slow cinema" - Mark Krotov, editor of n+1
Please send me an email (under "Contact") if you would like to set up a screening at your college campus, public library, diy venue, micro-cinema, art gallery, book store, infoshop, or multiplex, etc.