Woods Hole Film Festival 2008

What happens when a visionary French artist meets the creative spirit of a former Tobacco Road town in the midst of a downtown revitalization? A singular grassroots arts project emerges that confounds expectations and takes the city of Durham, North Carolina by storm as buildings from a past incarnation of the city are transformed into temporary canvases for dramatic public art. Bending Space: Georges Rousse and The Durham Project captures the genius of French photographer and installation artist Georges Rousse and follows the artist and two hundred volunteers during a September 2006 art residency in Durham. The film includes interviews with Rousse, project coordinators and volunteers, and people on the street as they visit the installations. Bending Space reveals the complex process of creating Rousse's signature trompe l'oeil illusions of color and shape that ultimately become the stunning large format color photographs exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. The film is witness to the energy that is unleashed when a remarkable artist and an art-loving community join forces.