Will Sheff's New Film DOWN DEEP THE DEEP RIVER Out Today

By: Sep. 05, 2017
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Will Sheff of Okkervil River is thrilled to announce the release of "Down Down the Deep River," a film he wrote, directed, and scored - out today and available for purchase in physical format via Okkervil River's website and Kino Lorber, and digitally though iTunes and Amazon Instant Video. "Down Down the Deep River" screened at a number of film festivals - including the Maine International Film Festival, Austin Music Video Festival, and the Rural Route Film Festival in New York - but today marks its first wide release via noted arthouse cinema distributor Kino Lorber.

The 42-minute, dialogue-free, dreamlike fantasy film tells the story of the friendship that develops between two young boys in 1980s small-town New Hampshire, set to a musical soundscape drawn from Okkervil River's song "Down Down the Deep River".
The film's score was inspired by the shooting conditions of the film, which involved re-visiting the same location many times throughout the year to capture the change of seasons. Sheff's score reflects the seasonal feel of the film, shifting palette from warm bubbly synths in spring to electric guitar in summer to woodwinds in the fall and a piano and string quartet in winter.
"Down Down The Deep River" is Sheff's directorial debut; shot in his hometown in 2014 with local and non-professional actors, the dreamy, dialogue-free short film is a story of childhood, imagination, alienation, and loss as two young boys form a friendship and spur the unfolding strange events in 1980s small town New Hampshire. The locations are heavily autobiographically weighted, using actual classrooms at the elementary school attended by Sheff, the production design includes elements inspired by his childhood toys and furniture, and even the meal eaten in a dinner scene was made from his mother's old recipe, lending the film a strong mix of reality and autobiography.
Sheff said: "When I made 'Down Down the Deep River', I wanted to capture my own memories of childhood -- not the truth but rather how I remember it feeling to be a kid -- but I also wanted make an artwork that enacted my own desperate and melodramatic sense of nostalgia while also speaking to the way that nostalgia misrepresents what actually happened. And I wanted to make sense of the role that pop entertainment plays in all of that."
BUY 'DOWN DOWN THE DEEP RIVER' HERE
DVD includes a documentary on the production of the film, deleted scenes, and an anthology of all of the Okkervil River music videos to date, including a new exclusive video Will made for "Comes Indiana Through the Smoke."

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