Santa Susana (2006)

It's rare enough to have really great students, rarer still to have students who go on to be practicing artists. Today, I'm celebrating the short film of a former student of mine, James Day, who has directed Santa Susana, an exploration of subjectivity and place--in particular, the struggles of Susana and her attempt to find her way in a place that goes back generations, a landscape that is increasingly alien to her, and now under the threat of "development." Will she hit the road, as so many American narratives invite, or choose to stay?