Divorcees, by Michael Lee Nirenberg

Divorcees
Michael Lee Nirenberg
2010

“Divorcees” takes place during what appears to be a celebratory dinner honoring a business merger between two family dynasties. Motives unfold as each dinner guest reveals their own reason for plotting to murder their hostess: Helen Radcliffe (played by Alissa Bennett).

“Divorcees” cast is comprised of mostly other artists as well as friends of Mr. Nirenberg. Known for not using professional actors, Mr. Nirenberg’s films utilize the aesthetic conventions of B movies. The film is silent with a score by Joe Vasile.

Influenced by the works of directors such as James Whale and Herschell Gordon Lewis and actors such as Lon Chaney and Vincent Price, Mr. Nirenberg’s work is generally comprised of short films that the artist carefully disassembles frame by frame. Selected images are then rendered as painted and drawn film stills. These stills seek to capture the qualities of the images in movie-fan magazines from the 50s and 60s.