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SYNOPSIS
In the Spring of 1991, in the midst of a crumbling marriage, James Knight's
life changed dramatically. His quiet, tight-knit Los Angeles neighborhood
was suddenly plunged into chaos by a pyromaniac,
a disturbed man fresh from fifteen years of torture in a Soviet gulag.
He arrived as a hero of the Lithuanian underground, sheltered and protected
by Lithuanians in the neighborhood.
Three major fires in one night sparked the terror, turning paranoid
suspicions in all directions. They were, as one neighbor puts it,
"being hunted".
In the next three months thirteen fires were set within a half-block
radius. Facing open hostility and incompetence from the LAPD the
neighborhood was forced to solve the crimes themselves. While overcoming
differences to protect their homes and families they also caught a lingering
glimpse of the "dark side" of their neighborhood; secrets no one wanted
to know, violent tendencies that could only arise in such desperate circumstances.
Meanwhile, stress and sleep deprivation edged James into an altered
state from which he caught secret glimpses of the crimes and of the mythic,
elemental nature of fire itself. Following his citizen's arrest of
the pyromaniac (and subsequent frame-up and conviction by the LAPD) he
discovered that he had a new battle to confront: Post Traumatic Stress
Syndrome.
In the fall of 1993 the pyromaniac was released from prison, returning
to the neighborhood to take the revenge he had sworn on them all.
In the middle of this drama James Knight gathered his wits and began
documenting it. As an editor of award-winning documentaries and a
maker of experimental videos, he combined these talents to create the style
of this piece, a combination of surreal diary and standard documentary.
Cover footage is stylized, including his "fire theater" modeled after Balinese
shadow puppets. Recreations of James' teenage experiments with fire
cap off and add black humor to an already complex tale.
What emerges is an intensely personal portrait of a crises, full of
conflicting viewpoints, anger, humor, fear and strength. Within the
story there are many stories, some quite unexpected; the tyranny
and fall of communism, the brutal indifference of the LAPD, the inadequacy
of the American justice and mental health systems, families brought together,
families torn apart, and the frightening seductiveness of a lynch-mob.
POSTSCRIPT: At this time Nick Nolte's
production company, Kingsgate Films, is developing the story of this documentary
into a feature film.
REVIEWS
"Disturbing, illuminating... Knight has a distinctive, authentic
talent."
- Kevin Thomas, LOS ANGELES TIMES,
3/12/98
"...Ballad of Fire, James Knight's video recounting of an L.A. neighborhood's
season of terror at the hands of an arsonist. Knight's methods are
beautifully simple: Visit his neighbors, set up the camera, let them
tell their side of the story. What emerges is the portrait of a community
whose tight knit is woven of many yarns; and as issues of race, trust
and authority arise, the neighborhood learns that coming together means
dealing with each other on levels much deeper than barbeques and front-yard
hellos."
- Hazel-Dawn Dumpert, L.A. WEEKLY, 3/7/98
What makes this
documentary so interesting is Knight's attempt to understand not only the
vigilantiism of the victims, but also the mentality of the arsonist himself.
Admitting his own fascination with fire, Knight moves toward an identifiation
with the arsonist that curiously frames himself as a suspect. In true
detective spirit, Knight drops clues and red herrings in their original
chronology so that we, too, get caught up in the need to know whodunnit, and
why.
- Rishika, Inside Out Film
BIOS
...
James Knight
director/producer
James Knight, a native of Detroit, came to Los Angeles in 1981 to realize
his dream of working on feature films. After five years of editing
B-grade horror films he left the business to walk across the continent
in 1986. This experience led him to seek more meaningful (though
less lucrative) work in documentaries.
Since this time he has cut several award winning documentaries, including
Cathy Zheutlin's JUST ONE STEP (first prize, Anthropos Film Festival),
Nick Clark's WE ARE A RIVER FLOWING for Minnesota Public Television and
THE SPIRIT OF PEACE: THE STORY OF PEACE PILGRIM. In addition he has
edited numerous educational series for PBS including EARTH REVEALED and
CROSSROADS CAFE.
Between editing work Mr. Knight has established himself as a creator
of avante-garde videos, screening (among many other places) at the Edinburgh
Fringe Film Festival, on the 90's Network and at the Los Angeles Contemporary
Exhibition (LACE). His work in this field has been mythic and abstract,
providing an aesthetic contrast to the straight-forward story-telling of
his documentary cutting.
In 1991 the events chronicled in BALLAD OF FIRE would catapult James
Knight into combining his varied skills to capture a story as bizarre as
any fiction and as dramatic as the best true crime story.
BIO
Barbara Clark
/camera
Nick Clark
/sound
Barbara and Nick Clark have been working as a team in documentaries
for over 25 years in Minnesota (their home) and around the world.
As a producer Nick has won over 20 major awards since 1985, including a
Silver Apple at the National Educational Film and Video Festival and the
Gold Award at the National Media Conference.
The Clark's have two productions scheduled for completion in 1998, "Via
Cruces" about the annual Good Friday reenactment of Christ's crucifixion
in a Mexican American district of Chicago, and "Thai Pusam" about a Hindu
pilgrimage in Malaysia. Both films are part of a series they are
producing entitled "Pilgrim at Century's End".
Nick met James Knight in 1981 at a seminar in Ireland. A trip
to Belfast together to shoot an interview with Bernadette Devlin McAliskey
and coverage of the hunger strike demonstrations cemented their friendship
and working relationship. James would later edit "We Are a River
Flowing", Nick's documentary about a young girl from Belfast's stay on
a Lakota Reservation in the U.S.A..
BIO
Frank
Pahl /composer
Frank Pahl is known both for his work as front-man for the avant-folk
band "Only a Mother" and for his many commissioned compositions for theater,
dance and video. He regularly tours Europe (solo and with OAM) and
has issued CDs on the T.E.C.-Tone, FOT and Vaccination labels. He
has recorded and performed with such underground music notables as Eugene
Chadbourne, Fred Frith and Amy Denio.
Frank Pahl's association with James Knight began in Detroit in 1980
when James played electric zither (with a steak knife) in Frank's band
"The Intermissions". Since that time Frank's music has appeared in
all of James' videos, most notably a heart-rending duet between prepared
mandolin and "Talk Back" Teddy Bear for
"Rondo's Dream of Life" in
1992.
On
Screen Credits
conceived and executed by
JAMES KNIGHT
music by
FRANK PAHL
"Redwood Epilogue" and "Swamp Song" performed by Only a
Mother
"The Ballad of Algimantus Enrekus"
written and performed by
MARTHA
ATWELL
accompanied by Frank Pahl
camera
BARBARA CLARK
sound
NICK CLARK
studio camera and sound
ANTON B. TAYLOR
additional camera
DAVID MUELLER
SEAMUS PIPER
MELINDA GAREY
MICHAEL SINGH
stand in for Mr. Enrekus
LEE STEPANSKY
.
very special thanks to
SUZANNE LELA ALI
AEOLUS FILMS
SABRE BRAHMS
SALLY BEATY
STEVEN HALPERN
GLENN KAMMEN
LISA LEEMAN
STEVE MASSENGILL
MICHAEL SINGH
ANTON B. TAYLOR
DAVID WEISMAN
THE KNIGHT FAMILY
THE RESCIA-MILLER FAMILY
THE VOSYLIUS FAMILY
AND TO ALL MY
SILVER LAKE NEIGHBORS
IN MEMORY
OF MR. SAM PECK
For a VHS copy of this documentary send $30 to: James Knight
Hypnojism Productions
P.O.Box 421126
Los Angeles, CA 90042
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