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Filmmaker Edward Pack Davee III spent a good portion of his childhood on the move. His father, Douglas, was in the Coast Guard at the time, with deployments taking the family to Cape May, N.J.; Governor’s Island, N.Y.; and Astoria, Ore. But for his first assignment in the early ‘70s, the Davees were sent to Iceland for Douglas to be part of the team maintaining a long-range navigation system situated in Keflavik.
Living on the island nation, especially during a time when it was largely unknown to Americans, left a huge impression on the Davees, who spent much of their free time camping and exploring the unique landscape. Since he was only 3 years old when they first arrived in Iceland, much of Edward’s memories of the experience are warm but hazy, cleared up only when looking at photos taken during the family’s brief stay.
Those same pictures, and footage he captured during multiple recent visits to the country, form the core of Davee’s latest work, HRAFNAMYND (Icelandic for “Raven Film”), which comes to Hollywood Theatre on Sept. 11. The hourlong film is a gorgeous exegesis on memory and family, and an intimate travelogue guided by anecdotes told by Davee, his parents, and his older brother.
“It’s undoubtedly the most important time in my family’s life,” Davee, now 52, says. “My parents still wear their Icelandic sweaters and have Icelandic art and taxidermy. Growing up, we had slide shows every year, and every time my dad would tell the same stories we’re hearing in the film.”
To evoke his search through memories from both a half-century ago and the recent past, Davee utilizes a variety of cameras and film stocks, from grainy Super 8 footage to crystal-clear images captured on digital devices. His own voice-over is unusually soft and almost ASMR-like, and the recordings of his family members were taken from phone conversations. The combined sensation is something like spying on a neighbor’s get-together.
“The whole idea of putting my voice in the film was kind of my worst nightmare,” Davee says. “I just felt like it had to be done. I didn’t really have a choice. Recording my parents and brother over the phone was to keep that sense of distance from the memories. And also it allowed my family to talk more freely because I think they forgot I was recording them.”
Adding to HRAFNAMYND’s foggy atmosphere is the work that electronic artist Patricia Wolf did scoring and developing the sound design for the film. The two artists are frequent collaborators; he has produced two music videos for her as well as provided video footage that Wolf projects behind her when she plays live. Utilizing synths like the UDO Super 6, acoustic guitar, and field recordings she made during her own visits to Iceland, Wolf perfectly captures the earthy yet otherworldly feel of the country.
“At first, I didn’t know how to approach this,” Wolf says. “I wanted to be really delicate and careful because this is about Edward’s life and family. I really wanted to get connected to this store and these emotions. It was easy for me to reflect back on my early memories in my family and tune into those kinds of emotions.”
The special screening of HRAFNAMYND at the Hollywood Theatre on Sept. 11 is both a test to see how an audience will react to it and an effort to raise much-needed funds to get the film into festivals. It’s an experience that, if my viewing is anything to go on, will surely stir up deep feelings of yearning—either regarding family or a desire to board a plane for Iceland.
In fact, what is especially surprising to learn when talking to Davee about his film is that, considering the outsized impact that the time in Iceland had on his family, he is still the only one of them to make a return trip to the country. “Not my brother has even been back,” he says, “so I’m just making them all jealous.”
SEE IT: HRAFNAMYND screens at Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Sept. 11. $20.