Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt, Manual Cinema: Ada/Ava Will Dazzle Audiences

Manual Cinema is a Chicago-based performance collective, design studio, and film/video production company. As the Chicago Tribune says, “[They] have created a whole new art form”—and then they won an Emmy for it in 2016 for their documentary short The Forger. Created in collaboration with The New York Times, the documentary tells the story of Adolfo Kaminsky, a Parisian whose skill as a forger saved the lives of 14,000 Jews in World War II. Kaminsky continued to use his skills to help others for the rest of his life. Manual Cinema also contributed puppet animations to a remake of the classic film Candyman (2021), screenplay by Jordan Peele, directed by Nia DaCosta, and produced by Monkeypaw Productions. Take a look at Manual Cinema’s horror animation sequence. Viewer discretion advised.

Founded in 2010 by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, Ben Kauffman, Julia Miller, and Kyle Vegter, Manual Cinema uses vintage overhead projectors, multiple screens, puppets, actors, live feed cameras, multi-channel sound design, and live music to transform the experience of attending the cinema and imbue it with liveness, ingenuity, and theatricality. Speaking of, the overhead projector was invented in France in 1850. During World War II, the U.S. used projectors to train troops, and by the 1950s overhead projectors became a school staple and an absolutely essential piece of educational technology. Now, Manual Cinema uses overhead projectors to create stunning works of shadow puppetry.

Aaron David Miller serves as the director of music and organist at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul. He is an acclaimed performer and composer who has received glowing reviews for his silent film accompaniments. Watch and listen to him perform his composition Oceanic Vision at House of Hope. Miller thrives outside of the limits of written compositions as well, having won numerous prestigious awards for improvisation, including the top prize for the coveted AGO National Improvisation Competition. Miller has performed at festivals and competitions across the country—as well as at Northrop during the 2022-23 season when he accompanied the silent film The Phantom of the Opera. Miller was the original organist for this arrangement of Ada/Ava, performed at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, PA.

• Drew Dir said that Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film Vertigo greatly influenced Ada/Ava.
• Sarah Fornace wrote the story mode for the video game Rivals of Aether.
• Ben Kauffman is an interactive media artist with a range of exhibitions to his credit.
• Julia Miller is a co-producer/director/editor of the web series The Doula is IN.
• Kyle Vegter is the co-founder of Parlour Tapes+, Chicago’s only contemporary classical music cassette label.
• Aaron David Miller uses his expert understanding of music as a forensic musicologist.

Puppets are an important part of the Minneapolis and St. Paul art scene. In the Heart of the Beast Theatre is a renowned puppet theater, founded in Powderhorn in 1973. For nearly 50 years, the HOTB has put on striking, large-scale puppet productions. Their works seek to transform, inform, and inspire political activism. Northrop’s Ada/Ava experience will feature HOTB puppets in the Northrop Lobby before the show. To explore how this timeless art form has been shared around the world and become a powerful tool for expressing joy and resilience, check out Strings of Resilience: A Puppetry Celebration on Feb 22.