Last February I wrote a feature focusing on my friend Ben Matukewicz’s company Aksarben Creative — a creative services business co-founded with fellow filmmaker Tom Knoblauch.
In that article, Ben teased the 2018 feature film project “Green On Green.”
On Aug. 9, Bridget and I had the opportunity to attend the “world premiere” of the film at Omaha’s Aksarben Cinema.
“Green On Green” is an ambitious film that tells the story of Camille Green (Rachel Dinan), a “creative non-fiction” grad student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Camille is trying to come up with a meaningful topic for her “capstone memoir project.”
That process plunges our heroine into an existential crisis involving the environment (inspired by the recent emerald ash borer outbreak in Nebraska), politics (a love interest is obsessed with the Buckley/Vidal debates of 1968), and a quest (inspired by Melville’s “Moby Dick”).
Green becomes determined to invite herself onto an ecology research trip — hoping a journey void of distractions will help her have an “epiphany.”
“Green On Green” infuses more than a little irony into the narrative.
Dinan is the glue that holds the story together as Camille Green. The spunky redhead is sort of a blue collar Emma Stone.
Knoblauch wrote and directed “Green On Green.” This is the fourth feature-length film he and Matukewicz have produced (after “Almost A Weekend” in 2015, “Adoptation” in 2016 and “Naomi Jones” in 2017).
In a Q&A seasion after the movie, Knoblauch told the audience that his inspiration was his obsession with nature and existential crises. “I try to make personal movies to some extent,” he said.
“Green On Green” was written in the spring of 2017. Knoblauch said he wanted to do an “outdoor” film after 2017’s “Naomi Jones.”
It sounds like the filmmaker is obsessed with detail, and finds the process stressful throughout: “Did we get what we needed... what if the hard drive falls into a puddle?”
I’m relatively new to Knoblauch and Matukewicz’s films. “Green On Green” reminded me of a droll fusion of Wes Anderson and Woody Allen — emphasizing meaningful dialogue, quirky characters, and ironic situations.
The “temp score” Knoblauch used for “Green On Green” featured the musical stylings of Paul Simon.
Local musicians — who invoked a similar feel — were featured in the final edit. One song that stood out to me was “The Radcliffes” by The Real Zebos (which mentions Omaha’s Brownell Talbot School in the lyrics):
There were also some classical tunes included. “Pachalbel’s Canon” provides particular resonance in the film (Camille Green opines that “Canon in D” is the “Hey Jude” of the 17th century).
Knoblauch says he finds inspiration in filmmakers like Robert Altman and Wes Anderson (particularly Anderson’s older films). He prefers films that are “indie and talky.”
When I asked about the budget for “Green On Green,” Knoblauch quipped, “It was like $200...very low.” He went on to say that having acquired equipment during previous projects has helped reduce production costs immensely.
I must say, the results seen on screen are impressive.
Knoblauch and Matukewicz are also fortunate to have talented people donate and invest time on their productions. One person they worked with (Megan Friend from “Adoptation”) went on to work on the HBO series “Girls” and the Netflix drama “Orange is the New Black.”
Aksarben Creative’s ability to bootstrap productions is something I admire.
I’ve had friends and relatives over the years who’ve wanted to make movies, but continually “wait around” until it is the right time or until they have the proper resources available.
I keep telling them they need to dive in and start creating.
In addition to the screening of “Green On Green,” attendees were treated to the short film “Racist Cannibal” by playwright grad student A.C. Kaufman Lill.
“Racist Cannibal” tells the story of a young couple who find out (from a DNA test) that they are genetically identical.
Lill told the attendees that the story is loosely based on her husband and herself. “Racist Cannibal” was filmed in her apartment, took roughly six weeks to write, and is her first short film. She says her writing style is influenced by writers like Neil Simon (“The Odd Couple”) and John Patrick Shanley (“Joe Versus The Volcano”).
Attending events like the “Green On Green” World Premiere serve as a reminder that we need to support creative efforts in our local community.
Knoblauch mentioned how supportive the local performing arts community has been to him.
While signature projects like “Green On Green” keep the company busy, Aksarben Creative also works to support and develop projects like “Racist Cannibal.” In fact, they are helping with an upcoming short film called “Stacked” (we were surprised to find out at the event that “Stacked” was written by our friend Wade Rodman).
If you are interested in seeing “Green On Green” and/or “Racist Cannibal,” both films will be featured at the 2018 Prairie Lights Film Festival in Grand Island, NE, on Oct. 13.
If you’d like to learn more about Aksarben Creative (and the services they offer), please visit their website at www.aksarbencreative.com.
I look forward to seeing the next Aksarben Creative production, and appreciate efforts by local filmmakers to help grow the creative community here in Omaha.
More than anything else, I appreciate creative minds that “try.”
Ideas are easy... execution is hard.
As Melville wrote, “I try all things, I achieve what I can.”
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