About UsAshley Sabin and David Redmon

What is Carnivalesque Films?

Carnivalesque Films produces stories united by the raw and startling sensibilities of transgression, spectacle, and variations of fiction and nonfiction. Named for Carnival, a celebration where societal norms are turned on their heads and excess and transgression rule the day. Visually kaleidoscopic, they mash together wildly contrasting styles and jarring images, intentionally violating accepted rules of perfect cuts, standard lighting, and conventional storytelling. In real life, people behave irrationally, succumbing to madness, self-destruction or accomplishments in pursuit of dreams and desires. Carnivalesque Films acknowledges these dreams and desires by exploring them as literature from the character's point of view.

What does “carnivalesque” mean?

Mikhail Bakhtin, a Russian literary critic, coined the term “carnivalesque” in a book he wrote in 1968 titled “Rabelais and His World.” Bakhtin lived under the Soviet rule of Stalin who prohibited open critiques of authority (in fact, Bakhtin was arrested for doing soin 1929; he spent ten years in exile). Bakhtin resorted to a poetic means of telling stories that focused more on lyricism, literature and laughter as strategies of resistance.

How can I help bring your films to audiences?

Simply send us an e-mail and let us know what you have in mind. I'm certain we can work out a solution: carnivalesquefilm@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook.

Carnivalesque has screened their films in Sundance, SXSW, Toronto, Tribeca, Hot Docs, Human Rights Watch, IDFA, CPH: DOX, Rome, and the Museum of Modern Art. The Sundance Channel, Documentary Channel, Link TV, Free Speech TV, NHK, Current, Scandinavian, New Zealand, European, Middle Eastern, and Australian television stations have broadcast their movies. Currently they are completing a feature documentary titled FOUR MOMENTS.