Insurgency of Ambition

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Insurgency of Ambition was conceived in the wake of short-lived US military successes in Iraq. Using the classic icon of victory—a Triumphal Arch—as a visual metaphor, the film questions the relevance of “victory” memes at the time of globalization. Operating on a more intimate level, it ponders the cost of unrestrained personal ambition.

The short opens with Zeus’s allegorical transformation into a Triumphal Arch, during which Athena violently erupts from his head. Athena’s association with both wisdom and war is oxymoronic, for what kind of wisdom is armed with weapons? She is Zeus’s mind disease, a chimera of conquest, all too eagerly revered and induced by the mortals. Infected by the idea of outward success, the main character is lured toward the Triumphal Arch, only to face its true, frightening nature as he gets within reach.

Film Details

Director: Anya Belkina

Writer: Anya Belkina

Year of Release: 2009

Running Time: 8

New England Connection: Anya Belkina received her BFA at the Rhode Island School of Design. She currently lives in Boston, where she teaches drawing and 3D animation at Emerson College.

Director(s) Bio:: Born in Moscow, Russia, Anya Belkina began her art training at the Moscow Art College In Memory of 1905. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California in San Diego. Prior to 2007, Belkina held the position of Assistant Professor in the Practice of Art at Duke University. She is currently teaching drawing and 3D animation at Emerson College, where she is Assistant Professor of New Media. Belkina’s paintings are held in private and corporate collections throughout the United States. Her work in the area of new media has been presented nationally and abroad at conventional exhibition venues as well as in the form of large-scale site-specific installations, video projections, broadcasted media and cover art for literary journals. Her award-winning animated shorts have screened at numerous national and international film festivals.