Film - William Kersten

FILM

The Toys of the Philosopher (2023)

Stop Motion Animation, 14 minutes

Third in a series set in the metaphysical world of Althyria, the film depicts lost toys in a desolate landscape attempting to find their way home. It was partly inspired by the reports of certain dreams experienced by scientists and philosophers which seemed nonsensical but actually led to new discoveries.

The Projectionist of Being (2021)

Stop Motion Animation, 17 minutes

A stop-motion animation film, set in the metaphysical world of Althyria. It began as a meditation on the block universe but morphed into a stream-of-consciousness approach - though one that was very long and drawn out by the process of animation.

The Metaphysician's Dream (2019)

Stop Motion Animation, 15 minutes

A stop-motion animation film using handmade puppets, miniature sets and props, inspired by the works of Giorgio de Chirico, Ives Tanguy and the Brothers Quay. An earlier version of the film premiered at the International Surrealist Film Festival 2010, and Zero Film Festival Los Angeles 2010, but it was later withdrawn and developed into what became "The Metaphysician's Dream." Only a few scenes of the first version were used in the later film, but the main puppet became its "star." The film features a music score composed for flute, harp, celesta, musical glasses, viola, bass and analog synthesizer. The music was performed by the Vienna Symphonic Library virtual orchestra.

A review by Nicola Gocic -

Inspired by the work of Giorgo de Chirico, Yves Tanguy, Jean Cocteau and the Quay brothers, The Metaphysician's Dream is another superb addition to the pantheon of surreal stop-motion films. Elevating its classy appeal is the fact that it is virtually a one-man show - William Kersten is its director, animator, cinematographer, production designer and music composer, with the elegant score of oneiric proportions performed by the Vienna Symphonic Library software.

Inviting you into a vast, phantasmagorical world is a mellifluous and somewhat mysterious opening track which accompanies decidedly archaic, silent era-inspired title card, credits and epigraph, and fades to silence pierced by a subtle needle-on-a-worn-record crackling. After the curtains are drawn open, we enter a delightfully retro atelier-laboratory where a couple of scientists or rather, alchemists are about to consult their books and perform a series of puzzling experiments resulting in an interdimensional exchange of sorts. As the title suggests, a highly unconventional story plays out like a dream, so most of it is left to the viewer to decipher, or simply allow it to be smitten by its magic.

Amongst the apparatuses and contraptions of obscure purpose, neatly shelved bottles containing various potions, and concrete blocks turned cosmic kaleidoscopes, one can easily get lost, but the non-speaking protagonists seem to know exactly what they are doing. Appearing as wooden mannequin dolls with heads of expressionless Hellenistic sculptures, they may be viewed as modest embodiments of some mystical, supernatural entities who hold the secrets of the multiverse, and are in complete control of time-space. As they establish a link between the past and the future through their present (and cryptic / esoteric) actions, Kersten approaches his cosmogonic fantasy (and perfection) with high attention to details, and in a tight, fifteen-minute frame, he delivers spellbinding imagery in spades, not wasting a single frame of a wonderful old-school animation. Beiges, browns and grays of his characters' bodies and sets are beautifully complemented by vivid colors of props and lighting, whereby the soft focus is frequently used to enhance a hypnotic, ethereal atmosphere. On top of that, The Metaphysician's Dream is paced so smoothly that watching it feels like drifting on a cloud. Kersten's meticulousness, vitality and creativity are pure inspiration...

Althyria (2017-2018)

Video, 60 minutes

with Zakotah Sevon, Ryan Costello, Luke Allen

"Althyria" is a feature length psychological mystery starring Zakotah Sevon, filmed in a low-key black and white style inspired by the subtle horror films of Val Lewton in the 1940s. Shot in 4k digital video, it is the story of a woman searching for her identical twin sister, an artist who believes her dreams of another world called "Althyria" are real. The music score is composed for orchestra in the "Leitmotiof" style of the studio films of the 40s with a symphonic development of separate themes for the various characters and situations. It was completed in 2018 and the premiere of the film was at Reno Little Theater on November 26, 2018.

Zakotah Sevon as twin sisters Helen and Ruth Baxter

Ruth finds herself transformed into her sister

Ruth is transported into the dream world of Althyria

The Pale Man (Ryan Costello)

Disembodied (1998)

16mm Film, 88 minutes

with Anastasia Woolverton, Hannah Cooper, Patricia Mathews, George Randolph

Three filmmakers, William Kersten, James Diederichsen and Robert A. Richardson created the independent motion picture Disembodied in 1994-1996, shooting on 16mm film. Originally, the story was entitled "Connie's Dream" and was more surreal than the final film, drawing inspiration from the low budget 50s independent film "Daughter of Horror." An attempt was made to form the story into a more coherent plotline than the first draft, though it retained many of the dream elements. At the time, the film was entitled "Aberration." The sets were constructed by Kersten and Richardson, and the makeup FX were created by Diederichsen, who also played the role of the Night Clerk.

The other actors were all from the Reno area. Anastasia Woolverton starred in the main role as Connie Sproutz. Hannah Cooper played Trixie Turner who lived next door. Also in the cast along were veterans of Reno area theater including George Randolph who played Dr. Sigmund Sylvanus and Patricia Mathews as the Cleaning Lady. The film was edited by Kersten with some crucial assistance by Diederichsen.

In 1998 the film was retitled "Disembodied" and picked up for distribution across America and in Japan, but after several years of no remuneration the film went underground for 15 years. The negative rolls sat in a storage box in a garage until finally, in 2015, it was transferred onto HD video. This allowed a new digital restoration to be made, and new special FX and a newly composed 50s style orchestral music score were added. This version of the film was then briefly distributed but withdrawn again. Finally, it is now scheduled for distribution by Bleeding Skull with a special edition Blu-Ray to be released in January 2025.

In 2017 the film was entered into festivals, and won Best Sci-Fi at Madhouse Movies 2017 as well as being an Official Selection of the Bloody Horror International 2017 and 13Horror.com 2017 festivals. A new website is also online with more information, images and reviews.

Daughter of Horror (1955)

James Diederichsen as The Night Clerk

Anastasia Woolverton as Connie Sproutz

Hannah Cooper as Trixie Turner

George Randolph as Dr. Sigmind Sylvanus

Patricia Mathews as The Cleaning Lady

Remember Tomorrow (1989)

16mm Film, 84 minutes

with Michael Replogle, Brenda Beck

Shot over a period of two years "Remember Tomorrow" is a tragic love story involving time travel set in the mythical Harbor City, California. The actors were from the Reno area, and the sets were built by Kersten and assistant director Robert Richardson alone in a warehouse, representing a 40 foot long 12 foot high hotel front, a piano bar, hotel corridor and numerous other interiors. Many locations were filmed including both Pyramid Lake representing an ocean beach as well as an actual Californian beach. The music was composed and recorded with a small orchestra made up of university students and was an elaborate, symphonic score in a romantic style featuring a piano solo with orchestra. The film was premiered at the Keystone Cinema in 1989, showing once, then disappeared into a storage cabinet. The music was recently completed (2019) in a new recording now available at Amazon and the full score and parts available at Sheet Music Plus.

Warped (1984)

Super 8mm Film, 59 minutes

with Brenda Beck, Blair Anthony, David Hagen and Roge Rousch

Kersten's first completed dramatic film was shot in Super 8mm and was a science fiction story about a woman scientist who attempts to travel back in time to save her mad artist sister from committing suicide. Ironically she only gets herself killed in an auto accident as a result, creating a fatal time loop. The irony is compounded by the fact that her sister was the driver, and committed suicide as a result of the trauma of killing her own sister. The laboratory was constructed in a physics room at the University of Nevada (loaned for free during the summer) with some large retro electrical machinery props built out of cardboard, masonite, dryer hoses, glass lamp shades, discarded electrical parts and a plethora of dials and light bulbs intended to depict a teleportation device that unexpectedly morphs into a time machine. The film premiered at the Scrugham Engineering lecture room at the University of Nevada Reno in 1984.