A Martial Arts Fantasy Anchored In A Tragic Reality, Watch Eric Lim's THE FORGE
We first came across Eric back in 2008 when he and a group of friends at the University of Wisconsin turned out an absolutely fantastic pair of Japanese scifi inspired short films titled Greenside and Zero Trooper. They were smart and funny, deceptively polished on the technical side and positively oozed heart and soul. They were fabulous, in short, and Lim and I ended up staying in touch off and on for years. He became part of the family.
And then Eric reached out in 2012 - we hadn't been in contact for a while at this point - to ask a bit of advice. He was making a new short film and he didn't know quite what to do with it because it wasn't anything at all like his other work. This was something far more personal, something he simply wanted as many people as possible to see and he didn't give a damn about any sort of business potential or any of that other regular stuff. He just needed people to see it.
The film's called The Forge, and it's Lim's response to the suicide of his older sister with the entire project being funded by the savings she left behind after her death. It's finished now and it's remarkable on so many levels that it's hard to really know what to say about it other than that it deserves to be seen and shared as widely as possible. Here's how the genesis of the project is described on the official website:
Aware of each other's works in the independent creative world but strangers in personal life, Eric Lim reached out to Stephen Reedy to help execute sister Tanya's final request for her little brother: to continue the path of filmmaking. Having once worked in a metal foundry, Reedy's insight on how broken rocks are, through fire and trauma, turned into beautiful art, built the metaphor that good comes from bad.
Together, they assembled a team of friends and strangers-turned-family to create The Forge, an endeavor built for anybody hurting, preaching a message to turn destruction into creation (a concept demonstrated in the process of making the film itself).
The project, featuring a mental-demon-blacksmith designed by artist Alex Pardee and built by Silver Shamrock Studios, took over a year to complete in the team's spare time.
The highly cinematic visuals were realized by cinematographer Chris Saul and visual fx supervisor/artist Lincoln Smith while the music was contributed by Grammy nominated composer Austin Wintory, YouTube sensation vocalist Malukah and world renowned cellist Tina Guo. The unification of all elements, from the raging hellfire explosions to the emotionally saturated soundtrack, was accomplished via sound designer and mixer Rich Arenas.
During the film's completion, Eric suffered the loss of his girlfriend, Krissy, giving The Forge yet another layer of personal relevancy. He found himself listening to the advice he preaches to others in The Forge, thus using the post-production process as a form of art therapy during an intense mourning process.
The Forge was finally completed in April 2013 and found a great home with the like-minded folks at SoulPancake, actor Rainn Wilson's (The Office) premium YouTube channel dedicated to thought-provoking content that encourages people to explore what it means to be human.
In addition to spreading a positive message, The Forge continues to contribute to the world of suicide prevention by selling Austin Wintory's soundtrack, 100% of the purchases funding The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
http://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/
Watch the film below.
