As part of a Sweet Pass sponsored workshop in Dallas this spring, Claudia Bitran worked with local artists and students in Dallas to create scenes for her project Titanic: A Deep Emotion — a frame-by-frame remake of James Cameron’s Titanic. Footage from these workshops found their way into an extended trailer of A Deep Emotion, later screened inside SP2 alongside Bitran’s 2018 animation, Falling Each of these video works re-rendered moments of collapse using the kinetic energy of failure to harness a familiar digital vertigo. As a cardboard Titanic sinks, a figure falls from a chair and a ladybug tumbles off the page - each moment simultaneously tragic, comedic, and relatable.

From Claudia Bitran:

"In 2014 I began filming a shot-for-shot reinterpretation of Titanic by James Cameron. I started it as a quick experiment, but it became a dynamic long-term project that has involved 600+ participants from 19 cities across the United States, Chile and Mexico.

I am producing this experimental with a modest budget, often times thanks to the support of artist residencies and grants.

I produce, direct, star and I make all of the sets & props with paint and materials found in my immediate surroundings. The actors, crew members and participants are friends, family, and people that I recruit in public spaces. All of the scenes are different (ranging from animation to live action) and all the characters change throughout the film. I am always Rose and the director."

In tandem with the screening event, local screen print shop Dum Dum (Tino Ward & Trey Burns) worked with Claudia to develop a limited edition tshirt. Featured on the front was the image of silent movie star and Titanic survior Dorthy Gibson who would go on to produce and star in the first film about the disaster just 20 days after her rescue. Dum Dum also produced a pizza box for the screening event and served homemade pizzas.