Antero and Sylvi have been in artistic collaboration since 1989 when they first met in Seattle WA. In 1996, they relocated to Berkeley CA where they established Vertical Pool Productions for their solo and joint projects and their collaborations with others. After nineteen prolific years of film and music production they relocated to Portland OR in 2015 and staged five experimental theatre productions while initiating their musical project, bird&wolf. In 2020, they returned to cinema with "The Vanishing Field", a year later with "The Alchemy of Sulphur" (2021) in 2022 with "Tracer" and in 2023 with "Blue Fire".
Sylvi and Antero; March 6, 2023
Sylvi Alli
After extensive training in classical piano, Sylvi turned to painting and between 1978-91, her art was shown in galleries in the U.S. and Europe. In 1989, she began her journey into ambient/industrial electronic music and in 1995, she started singing. These elements led to the development of soundtracks for many dance, theatre and cinema projects including soundtracks for most of Antero's films and theatre works (since 1993). In 1996, she designed and published "The Vertical Oracle" (a neo-Tarot deck;). In the same year, she starred in "Lily in Limbo", a 26-minute poetry film co-created with Antero. Her music CDs include "Too Near the Ghosts", "Dream of the Blue Moth", "Under a Shipwrecked Moon", "A Hundred Birds", "Vessel", "Flamingos" and "The Book of Jane". Sylvi's twenty years experience with the group ritual dynamics of ParaTheatrical ReSearch (1998 to 2018) informs her embodied voice methods as a singer. She has acted in many of Antero's films, as well as recording and performing their original songs as bird&wolf. Her photographic art is featured in Antero's book, "Last Words" (2023). Sylvi's latest album, her first without vocals, of seven solo piano improvisations, "Fugitive Colors" was released May 11th, 2023.
Sylvi Intervewed on "The Embodied Voice"
Music at SOUNDCLOUD
Music CD Catalog
Antero Alli
Between 1975 and 2018, Antero wrote, produced, and directed numerous experimental theatre works in the S.F. Bay Area, Seattle, and Portland. In 1977, he started developing a paratheatrical medium inspired by Polish theatre director Jerzy Grotowski combining methods of physical theatre, dance, and voice (documented in his books, Towards an Archeology of the Soul (2003), State of Emergence (2020), Sacred Rites (2023) and in numerous videos). In 1980, Antero worte songs, lyrics for, and performed in, his neo-punk band, The Frozen Beauties in Berkeley. Between 1991-95, he acted as editor-in-chief of Talking Raven Quarterly, a Seattle-based alt-literary journal. Between 1992 and 2002, Alli curated the Nomad VideoFilm Festival, a popular west coast touring showcase of experimental shorts. Since 1993, Alli has written and directed sixteen feature art films that toured the pacific coast arthouse circuit while garnering critical praise at the popular movie review site, filmthreat.com. Antero is also the author of numerous esoteric books and an astrologer. His final film"Blue Fire" premiered September 21st, 2023 at Clinton Street Theater, Portland OR - celebrating the end of a 30 year era and 16 features.
2023 Video (Zoom) Discussions
Antero discusses his filmmaking and paratheatre processes in-depth
Vision Statement - Why I Make Films
Towards an Insurrection of the Poetic Imagination
Films online
YouTube and Vimeo - free views
collaborators, contact, site map
verticalsource@gmail.com
