Liminal: Indiana in the Anthropocene
Liminal is a meditative aerial film that illustrates our state as a microcosm of this new planetary epoch. It captures features of this global phenomenon within the boundaries of our state, collapsing the global into the local. This event is part of the Unearthed initiative, Indiana Humanities’ multiyear environmental theme that asks Hoosiers to consider how we affect the environment and how the environment affects us.
About the film
Liminal Film Tour
Liminal: Indiana in the Anthropocene is a meditative aerial film that illustrates our state as a microcosm of this new planetary epoch. Society is accelerating into the Anthropocene where our relationship with the Earth is one of conquest, dominance, and manipulation. This new epoch encapsulates the world as human civilization fundamentally distorts ecological and planetary systems. It is incessant and expansive motion, a profound generation of power, endless extraction, and nonstop movement of materials all fed into a global metabolism. The byproduct is continuous dumping, pollution, and transformation. And yet, encased within the Anthropocene’s vast tentacles, we find it difficult to comprehend the unnerving transitions of this new world. The immensity of the Anthropocene’s broad signatures that span continents make it both ubiquitous and opaque. What if we could compress it into a defined space to better visualize and perceive it globally and locally?
Liminal captures features of this global phenomenon within the boundaries of our state, collapsing the global into the local. We present the world of the Anthropocene not as an exotic feature of a transformed landscape on the other side of the world, but in a space we inhabit; our home, Indiana. The Anthropocene isn’t “out there” but “right here”.
Entirely filmed with drone cameras by Indiana Aerials and accompanied by an original score written by Ft. Wayne composer Nate Utesch of Metavari, Liminal reveals a compelling and uncanny view of Indiana in all its features and forms.
Previous Screening Dates
- April 22, 2023 | St. Joseph County Public Library (South Bend)
- April 25, 2023 | Kan-Kan Cinema and Brasserie (Indianapolis)
- April 28, 2023 | Fort Wayne Cinema Center (Fort Wayne)
- May 3, 2023 | DePauw University (Greencastle)
- June 1, 2023 | Heartland Film Headquarters (Indianapolis)
- June 29, 2023 | Historic New Harmony Atheneum (New Harmony)
- September 7, 2023 | Buskirk-Chumley Theatre (Bloomington)
- September 19, 2023 | REES Theatre (Plymouth)
- October 11, 2023 | Eagles Theatre (Wabash)
- October 14, 2023 | Heartland International Film Festival (Indianapolis)
Liminal Exhibition
As part of the Liminal Film Tour, the Liminal filmmakers and Indiana Humanities staff put together an accompanying exhibition of imagery from the film that traveled to our Liminal Film Tour cities for approximately a month at a time. Here are the locations that hosted the exhibitions:
April 2023 | St. Joseph County Public Library (South Bend)
May 2023 | Fort Wayne Cinema Center (Fort Wayne)
June 2023 | Heartland Film Headquarters (Indianapolis)
July and August 2023 | Historic New Harmony Atheneum (New Harmony)
September 2023 | Maxwell Hall, Indiana University (Bloomington)
About the filmmakers
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Zach Schrank: Zach is a 9th generation Hoosier, sociology professor, and director of the Center for a Sustainable Future at Indiana University South Bend. He teaches social theory, consumer society, and environmental sociology courses. In 2020, he co-directed the documentary Big Enough, Small Enough: South Bend in Transition, which is streaming through Hoodox; a service featuring exclusively nonfiction, Indiana-based films.
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Aaron Yoder: Aaron Yoder is a South Bend, Indiana native with passions for aviation, technology, and photography. He founded Indiana Aerials in early 2017 as a drone service provider in the Northern Indiana region and to foster the growth of aerial data capture techniques. Recently, he has largely focused on providing aerial drone base inspections for utility scale wind turbines.
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Nate Utesch: The evolution of Metavari’s work in electronic music has defined the career of Fort Wayne, IN composer Nate Utesch. The musician and Grammy nominated art director (Smashing Pumpkins, Phoebe Bridgers, Weezer, Sharon Van Etten, etc.) has led the act across the edges of the genre for over a decade. Metavari is best known for their career defining Record Store Day titles on the famed Belgian label, One Way Static Records; the synth-heavy reimagining of Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis,’ and ‘ABSURDA,’ the pioneering collection of dark and phosphorus music for the short films of David Lynch. Nate will be on-hand for live performances of Liminal‘s score at each film screening!