In a suburban mansion, Martha sneaks into her son’s virtual reality chamber. Here, he wanders through a desert with extraordinary powers. The machine is intended as a psychiatric treatment, yet Martha’s trespass sets in motion a series of threatening events. The virtual reality, it seems, has begun to leak into their home. Inspired by melodrama films of the 1950s, The Desert examines feminist heroism through the lens of contemporary science fiction.
Directed by Ben Bigelow
Written by Gabe Rivin
Cinematography by Kristen Correll
Production design by Eve Axness
Music by Jacques Brautbar
Produced by Lynn Kouf, Petr Jankular,
Ben Bigelow, and Gabe Rivin
STARRING
Chantelle Albers
Ty Mayberry
Jim Ortlieb
Mikey Licari
Joseph Lopez
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Ben Bigelow comes from a career in the visual arts with a practice combining video-installation, sculpture, performance, and sound. He received an MFA from Stanford University and a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University. He has participated in over fifty exhibitions at venues including the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. As an educator, Ben was a faculty member in the Department of Art & Art History at Stanford University, as well as in the Studio for Interrelated Media at Mass Art, Boston. He recently started making narrative films, beginning with The Desert. Originally from Los Angeles, Ben currently lives in New York City.