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| Voices of 2018 A documentary |
Theresa (see film) Duration is 1hr10m4s Commissioned by the Theresa Historical Society by Dan Senn |
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| The Subjects Those interviewed for this project have strong ties to Theresa and share stories of this extraordinary American village, 170 years old, which has lived much larger than its numbers. It has long been a religiously tolerant community blessed by artists, inventors, risk-takers and optimists set in a land of windmills, drumlins, and the spirits of the Native Americans they once lived with in harmony. Those interviewed for this film include Jim Widmer, Warren Feilbach, Micki Polster, Jeanine Streblow, Evangeline and Paul Koll, Bill Mand Lloyd Musack, Delmar Rahjes, Gerald Beck, Jim Polster and Walter Mirk. The banner photo above is a 1922 photo of the Theresa Main Street by an unknown photographer collected and rephotographed by Jim Widmer. It is part of the Theresa Public Library collection. |
Synopsis The Theresa Project (2018) consists of interviews with community members about village history and personal stories. Theresa, Wisconsin, was established in the late 1840s by the great Solomon Juneau who also founded the city of Milwaukee serving as its first mayor. The project is sponsored by the Theresa Historical Society. Those interviewed for this project have strong ties to Theresa and share stories of this extraordinary American village, 170 years old, which has lived much larger than its numbers. It has long been a religiously tolerant community blessed by artists, inventors, risk-takers and optimists set in a land of windmills, drumlins, and the spirits of the Native Americans they once lived with in harmony. Director Bio Dan Senn is an interdisciplinary artist working in experimental music composition, video, and sound sculpture but also makes documentary films usually with little, if any, assistance from others. He is the director of the Echofluxx media festivals in Prague and co-founder of Roulette Intermedium in New York City and lives in Prague, The Czech Republic, and Watertown, Wisconsin. Dan has directed and produced “The Exquisite Risk of Civil War Brass”, "A House on Jungmanova” and most recently, “Voices of Theresa”. |
Director Statement "I generally work alone, even in documentary film, transferring the practice of working solo in my studio work, and live performance, to an otherwise collaborative medium, documentary film. The downside of this approach is the heaviness of the load and the lack of community discourse which a film so benefits from. The upside is a process I am intimate with, working alone, as well as a pure efficiency for I am comfortable interviewing subjects, working behind the camera, editing video, etc. in the studio and without interruption. It also allows me to do what I want without grant obligations and budget concerns. Voices of Theresa, Wisconsin, came about when I was approached by Alice Mirk, board member of the Theresa Historical Society, about interviewing on video Theresa people who had a long, long connection the village. After visiting Theresa and talking with some of these folks, I agreed and soon after set to work with the assistance of Alice and Walter Mirk, and then the Theresa Public Library which houses the massive photo collection of the esteemed Jim Widmer who was also a subject for the film. DSS |
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