HIDE & SEE
After an encounter in the woods, two ghosts deploy camouflage and bushcraft in a series of attempts to evade and outwit one another, all the while unraveling a hidden connection between them.
Narrative short (22 min)
Directed by Sam B. Jones & Mimi Bai
Cinematography by Sam B. Jones
Screenings & Exhibitions: Maryland Film Festival (World Premiere), Rooftop Films, Rockaway Film Festival, Boston Center for the Arts, CARA (Center for Art, Research and Alliances), BlackStar Film Festival William & Louise Greaves Filmmaker Seminar, The Rockaway Hotel & Laundromat Project Residency on the Rock
Orange, a solitary ghost in a black-and-white forest, spies White, another lone ghost, stealing bait from its trap. This chance encounter sets off an extended pursuit across the seasons in which White uses camouflage and bushcraft techniques to evade Orange. The chase reveals hidden connections between the two ghosts, who can see in color - making it difficult to hide from each other in their otherwise monochrome world. As Orange closes in on White, the two increasingly mirror one another, culminating in a climactic moment of mutual recognition, of seeing and being seen.
’Hide and See"‘ is an extension of visual artist Mimi Bai’s body of work, which uses ghosts and camouflage as metaphors for cultural assimilation. The film is inspired by Spy vs. Spy, outdoor survival YouTube tutorials, and the 1942 Len Lye film Kill or Be Killed, in which a British sniper faces off with a German adversary in a test of camouflage craft.
