A man dripped in honey, in a field. This is haunting.

We’re in the Deep South. In a corn field. Scorching sun. It’s silent in the ominous way a horror film is, right before something happens.

A beautiful man stands, dripping in honey…

This is the latest short film from director Roman Stills. ‘Dixieland’ was shot in the Deep South of the United States of America.

It’s beautiful and creepy and wonderful…

‘Dixieland’ (2014), Directed by Roman Stills. from Roman Stills on Vimeo.

We spoke to the talented director about his extraordinary debut short film.

Why did you travel the Deep South?

Roman Stills: From my experience, racial politics in New York City was highly visible but rarely discussed.  It led me to question the nature of conversations around race in the Deep South, or Southern United States, infamous for its sordid racial history (particularly states like Mississippi). I’m also fascinated with the relationship between music and the African-American Civil Rights Movement, which “Dixieland” explores.

Where did you find Darius, your model/actor?

RS: Craigslist. I had no idea what kind of responses to expect. A gut feeling told me that Darius would be perfect, so I booked him immediately.

After meeting, he took me on a wild ride through the outskirts of New Orleans. We visited his grandmother’s home, which was made of white weatherboard that had buckled over time, was surrounded by overgrown grass and boasted a charming slant.

I learned that his parents, grandparents and great grandparents have/had never left Louisiana. His sense of home seemed to be tied to physical space. Fundamentally, Dixieland is about our relationship with private space.

Do I hear jazz at the start of the film?

RS: Jazz music is everywhere in New Orleans: on the streets, in restaurants and bars and what Darius unconsciously hummed. Interestingly, he only hummed Dixieland music or early jazz. From my perspective, Dixieland music is part of New Orleans’ history, culture and landscape.

What is the substance on the model’s hands and face?

RS: I used Honey, one of the only foods that never go out of date. It is one of the ways I sought to disrupt sequential time, because “Dixieland” is about relationship with private space over time, rather than a fleeting moment.

Screening of Roman Stills’ short-film Dixieland on October 7th 2014

at

Honeyed Hues in Dixieland

Blacklisted Gallery, 648 Bourke Street, Surry Hills.

BIO: Roman Stills is an Australian artist working predominantly in the medium of film. Stills completed a MFA

with distinction at the University of Sydney, before working at leading Australian art institutions and publications,

including the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Sydney Morning Herald. He has an upcoming exhibition at

Blacklisted Gallery on October 7, 2014 and has been selected for the 2015 DINCA Film Festival in Chicago. He lives

and works between Sydney and New York.

We bring you this as part of Mamamia’s art endeavour, the Voulez-Vous Project. Every week we celebrate emerging artists, designers, illustrators, creators and women who knit using their vaginas. (Kidding. Maybe.)

Our aim: to help the internet become a slightly more beautiful, captivating, or thought-provoking place by making art accessible. To find out more about the Voulez-Vous project, click here. Click here to see all the previous Voulez-Vous posts.

Do you know an artist (or are YOU an artist) who creates beautiful or thought-provoking work and whom you think should be featured on Mamamia’s Voulez-Vous Project? Send an email to info@mamamia.com.au.