Buffalo movies: ‘The Space Between Attack and Decay’ highlights BIFF set of short films

By Elmer Ploetz
(Image above: Boris McGiver as Ricki Constant in ‘The Space Between Attack and Decay’)

Director Jessica Kourkounis says that she received one of the most astute descriptions of her film “The Space Between Attack and Decay” from a woman who scouted the film for inclusion in the Lucca Film Festival in Italy, where it screened last month.

“She wrote back and said something like, ‘I’m really blown away by this film. I love that it doesn’t beg to be understood,'” Kourkounis said in a recent interview. “And that is like the perfect way to approach this film.”

And that is also likely why it is a key film in the Buffalo International Film Festival’s “BIFF Shorts: Trips + Transformations” program, offering its own metaphysical trip. The set of shorts will be screened at noon Sunday at Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center.

Other films on the bill are:

• “Hide that Beard!” Sophie Louÿs (Dir), 19 minutes, Réunion/France, New York State Premiere
• “Metamorphosis,” Antonio Enrique Cavallo (Dir), 26 minutes, USA, New York State Premiere
• “Shalom,” Sarah Galasso (Dir), 2 minutes, USA, World Premiere
• “Trace of Nüwa,” Haohang Shi + Jiao Deng (Dir), 7 minutes, China, Western New York Premiere
• “Soulmate,” Badral Bodanchat (Dir), 3 minutes, Mongolia, New York Premiere
• “Retreat Into The Swamp,” Christine Banna (Dir), 6 minutes, USA, Festival Premiere

The 29-minute “The Space Between Attack and Decay” is the first narrative film directed by Kourkounis, who grew up in Springville and started her career as a journalist/photographer in Buffalo. She worked for the publications Buffalo Beat, Blue Dog Press and Buffalo Spree and has exhibited her work at CEPA. She now lives in Philadelphia.

She said she’s excited to be back in Western New York, but “maybe not as excited as my mom.”

“I really credit having the opportunities I had in Buffalo with launching basically my entire career,
Kourkounis said.

Or, as she puts it in the press notes, “To bring this film, which is so much about dissolution and rebirth, back to the place where my own creative life began is incredibly meaningful. It feels less like a screening and more like a homecoming.”

Kourkounis has made documentaries and music videos, had her photos in the New York Times and Getty Images and has done multimedia journalism on NPR. She also shoots still photos for major films. Her website includes a quote from Samuel L. Jackson’s Instagram saying, “Reppin’ the dope ass photographer @kourkounis for the good vibes & Invisibility on Glass! Cool ass Lady, too.”

That background in visuals was part of what led her to her directorial debut. She also got a gift in the form of script from her husband, Richie Fravel. It was his first script.

It helped having built up a group of friends in the film industry. Fravel was able to run it by a script supervisor for tips. Then after he gave it to Kourkounis, they showed it other friends who specialized in budgeting films. One said he quit reading after four pages because he had tallied up a projects cost of $250,000 already.

“The Space Between Attack and Decay” didn’t cost anywhere near that amount. Kourkounis made it in part by calling on her very skilled friends, including actors Boris McGiver (“House of Cards,” “The Wire,” “Lincoln”) and Christy Lee. Some were excited to try something that was related to their specialty, but also new to them.

“The production designer (Matt Saunders), he’s a theater designer but would like to do more film stuff,” Kourkounis said. “The art director (Jodi Rice), that was the first time she was able to really have that much control over what she was doing. And the composer (Emily Robb), that’s her first time composing a soundtrack, and she did all of the Foley (sound effect) as well.”

Despite her visual arts background, Kourkounis turned to her friend Nick Huynh as director of photography. He started out giving tips on the production and then offered to shoot it.

The resulting film has been well received so far. It was judged “Best Film” at the Roswell (N.M.) Shorts Festival, “Best Experimental Film” at the Philadelphia Indie Film Festival and was a semifinalist in the Berlin Shorts Awards.

“And I think people hwhen they read something like (the film’s script), they’re thinking major visual effects and slick modern filmmaking,” Kourkounis said. “But we really wanted this to have more of a handmade feel to it and to really stick to trying to do everything as practically as much as possible, and to just find creative ways to create this world.

“We really wanted the “Willy Wonka”/”Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang,” “Wizard of Oz” type of visual effects.”

When it was suggested that the film might have a Rod Serling/”Twilight Zone” vibe, Kourkounis said, “I can’t say that that was on the front of my mind, but I could see that, yes.”

Having completed her first narrative film, Kourkounis is looking forward to more. She would like to do another short in which she might also serve as director of photography. She would also love to direct a feature film.

“I would love to to do more of this,” she said. “It’s just so expensive. Even with calling in every favor, it’s still so expensive.”

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