M. Woods’ Commodity Trading: Dies Irae is a surrealist nightmare wrapped in a documentary chronicling the void that emerged with the election of Donald Trump. The movie weaves a narrative through political hells, using 16mm film, mixed media digital experimentation, and archival footage to paint a hallucinatory landscape of Southern California’s break from reality.
This is M’s 4th feature film, made possible through a residency with Lightcone Paris. M’s work has been previously exhibited at The Flaherty Seminar, The Rotterdam International Film Festival, The Ann Arbor Film Festival, Oberhausen International Film Festival, and Collectif Jeune Cinéma. M is the co-founder of the avant-garde art group Agitate, and the label, Disassociative Productions.
Chicago Filmmakers does not deny admission to those who do not have the ability to make a donation. Please email coop [at] chicagofilmmakers.org to inquire about free admission.
For tickets: https://chicagofilmmakers.org/upcoming-screenings-and-events/commodity-trading
COMMODITY TRADING (USA, 2022) DIRECTOR: M. Woods WRITERS: M. Woods with Josh Gray PRODUCERS: M. Woods, Cory Mack, Josh Gray STARRING: M. Woods, Josh Gray, Lauren Paige, and Annmarie Woods Total Run Time: 80 mins
*CHICAGO PREMIERE
A bad trip that replicates the dissolution of the self/government/family/body within the solvent of a white supremacist hyperreal suspension. M. Woods attempts to enter the Numb Spiral through the Great Incision of Oxoniae, lulled into the digital sickness to be with his doppelganger. After entering a portal in a webcam site, he becomes Abraxas, recklessly seeking completion through The Numb Spiral. Meanwhile, Joshua enters the Numb Spiral through 9DVR, a game platform installed at Culver City’s Westfield Shopping Center. The White Father haunts Joshua until Joshua decides to burn down the White Father’s house in righteous anger.
Warning: The following work contains accounts and representations of racism, violence, sex, and nudity. Parts of this work are based in actual events. Some parts contain fast edits and strobing imagery and that may negatively impact those viewers with epilepsy and other light-sensitive disorders.