Convento São Francisco de Mértola
jarred alterman
Jarred Alterman is an award winning documentary filmmaker and cinematographer who works in NYC, London and Amsterdam. His first documentary film, MOTT MUSIC (the story of a piano factory in The Bronx) premiered at SXSW 2005, and was distributed on Sundance Channel. His recent doc/art film, CONVENTO, is currently on the festival circuit: screening at SXSW, IFFBoston, Maryland, Camerimage, Provincetowm, and Rooftop films.
CONVENTO won a special jury prize at IFFBoston for Best Documentary.
Over the past ten years, he has collaborated with the artist and filmmaker Charles Atlas (Hail The New Puritan, the Legend of Leigh Bowery) on several films for The Merce Cunningham Dance Company. As a Director of Photography and camera operator working in this medium, his passion for movement was born. Merce Cunningham’s avant-garde approach with “chance” choreography in collaboration with John Cage’s revolutionary concept of music and soundscapes, created masterpieces like, Views, Split-Sides, and Ocean. He was taught how to film three- dimensional dance (choreographed for the live stage) with a two-dimensional medium. His appreciation for both simplicity and complexity of camera movement in relation to dance, is an important influence on the visual story telling of Convento. He is currently a cinematographer for the television series, ART:21 (Artists in twenty first century, PBS).
