Review Fix chats with Styrmir Elí about his new production “Untitled, 1970.”
About Untitled, 1970:
Untitled, 1970 is an experimental, intimate, bold expression of what it is be to be young and alive in a big city.
The performance will take place in an apartment in Brooklyn, New York, with a very limited audience capacity. Half the performance is live in front of the audience while the other half is filmed, cut and presented in video format on the living room TV.
So the story will flow from stage to screen and screen to stage.
The idea is to create the environment for the audience that they are in the cinematic universe they see on screen.
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Review Fix: What was your inspiration behind this project?
Styrmir Elí: Cause and effect. The question of free will and binary concepts such as good and evil, life &
death, negativity & positivity, light & dark, zeros and ones.
Also, I wanted to capture the spirit of being young, curious, and alive in New York City.
The production side of the project is then a different element.
I’ve always loved the intimacy cinema captures, that stage sometimes has difficulty doing, as it
is live, often in big theatres and therefore more performative.
Yet on stage, when done correctly, there is electricity, rawness, and energy that cinema will
never capture.
So why not do both?
Hence, UNTITLED, 1970 was born.
A story of young guys with big questions about life living in NYC,delivered both on stage and on screen.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
Elí: In terms of writing, I note things down on my phone all the time.
Questions that I’m curious about, philosophical epiphanies I might have late at night, or when I feel like I suddenly get an answer to a question that has been bothering me. I am extremely interested in the harmony of nature and the universe; the cosmos if you will.
So, I had a long list of notes that I looked at and the story was born. Formulated from snippets spread out between my notebooks, my phone, and my computer. The story was born in a day but then it took me months to actually type it down.
The creative process has been quite different this time as an actor since I wrote the story. Such a big part of the preparation had already been done. I try to stay grounded and calm when in front of the camera or on stage – which has been a challenge cause I’m also producing this and have had a million things on my mind.
Review Fix: What did you learn/are learning about yourself through this process/production?
Elí: Pff – where to begin. I think this fall has been the busiest time in my life. It’s a very emotional and vulnerable process sharing your writing, let alone making it come to life on screen and stage. In many ways I have many similarities with the character I play; Tristan – so that has been interesting – approaching a character that is similar to yourself and by doing that gaining a different perspective on your own persona.
Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this for the future?
Elí: Get funding and turn it into a full feature.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Elí: Hopefully some chili sin carne and a cold beer somewhere at a ski resort with my girlfriend.
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