GFF 2010: Court (13) in Session

The story goes that when a fire marshall saw the basement setting of short filmmaker Benjamin Harold Zeitlin's stop motion film, Egg, he declared it the worst fire hazard he'd ever seen. And from these potential, but avoided, flames rose the ambitious and determined film-making collective known as Court 13. A little while later, Ray Tintori, another member of the group, enlisted the help of his friends to realise his idea for Death to the Tinman, which required the building of a to-scale flying machine. It crashed.

Three years later, the members of this self-proclaimed 'army' built a ramshackle, hobbled-together sailing device from the wreckage and remnants of Hurricane Katrina. The Louisiana Coast Guard stated, “this is not a boat, this is the least seaworthy vessel I've ever seen floating”. But float it did, and the proof can finally be witnessed in the UK for the first time. Glory at Sea is the collective's most ambitious project; the culmination of trial and error, several unwanted breaks due to funding issues, five month's work and the generosity of a ruined city. It is evidence that Court 13 have a vision, and while many would stumble at the first impossible hurdle, this collective have a way of achieving their goals.

This perseverance is more than simply a means to an end – it is the ethos of the Court, which proudly declares that it “values 'Do It Yourself' not as a matter of financial circumstance, but as a spiritual requirement”. Just as Werner Herzog famously dragged a real ship over a mountain to create Fitzcarraldo (1982), the actions of Court 13 echo the actions of their characters in Glory at Sea, adding layers of meaning and strength to this already powerful and resonant short.

Winning six awards, Zeitlin's film may be only twenty-five minutes long, but it speaks volumes, and has provided the Court with deserved acclaim. Its members are making their mark on the film industry, directing music videos for bands such as MGMT and Chairlift while Tintori will soon be embarking on his first feature film, produced by none other than Spike Jonze. In the meantime, Court 13 is expanding its army. It encourages the development of artists and marginalised groups and runs after-school children's filmmaking workshops. Ignoring the incredulity of those who witnessed the madness, Court 13 has proven there has been a method all along, as they defiantly face their next adventure, “where life and limb are risked for the sake of community, culture, and everlasting glory”.