On Thursday August 30, fans of violinist/mandolinist Boyd Tinsley, will have a unique opportunity to take part in a special premiere event for “Faces in the Mirror,” taking place at the Moore Theatre in Seattle.
A mainstay in the Dave Matthews band for more than two decades, Tinsley said “Faces in the Mirror,” came about as a way to deal with the grief he was feeling following the death of friend and bandmate LeRoi Moore. “Faces” is Tinsley’s debut feature film.
“Personally, it was important for me to do something,” Tinsley said. “I knew I was only going to get better if I put my feelings and pain in to something creative.”
Described by Tinsley as a “modern day silent film – with some dialogue,” the film follows Ben Fisher, a young man who returns home to bury his father, and then finds himself on a dream-like odyssey filled with fantastical places and mystifying people.
Driven by an emotional performance by actor Ryan Orr, Tinsley said the movie’s aesthetic was directly influenced by his experience with filming the band’s “Crash Into Me” video in 1997.
“It was directed by Dean Karr and it was just so beautiful – it was dreamy, and mysterious,” Tinsley said. “The footage he shot gave me chills. And I knew that was the kind of movie I wanted to make, with a combination of film and music.”
Keeping with the idea that dialogue can often be distracting, the storyline is driven by a mostly original score, produced by Tinsley and performed by members of Dave Matthews Band, including Stefan Lessard, Tim Reynolds and Dave Matthews, along with musician Shawn Smith and groups Maktub and The Silent Comedy. The film was directed by Aaron Farrington , and features special material written and voiced by former Poet Laureate of the United States, Rita Dove.
“Grief was on my mind. And [Orr] had lost his dad a few years before,” said Tinsley, in regard to how the plot developed. “And I knew we could a story off of that.”
The result, he said, is a movie that is not only seen, but felt.
In addition to developing the movie, Tinsley also plays the role of an eccentric preacher in the film, whom Orr encounters during a late night visit to a gospel church.
While portions of “Faces” have already been previewed in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, the Seattle event will be the first time the movie has streamed in it’s entirety. The evening, being streamed live by Snag Films, will also feature a special question and answer section with Tinsley, and musical performances by Tinsley, the Silent Comedy and Allen Stone.
The event will be broadcast live via Snag Films. For more information and to RSVP for the premiere, go to www.snagfilms.com/facesrsvp.
