Whenever I set out to make a film, there are times when I'm led on by nothing more than a vague frame of mind or an urging desire. In such situations, I have to place my trust in forces unknown to me. Most filmmakers probably know something of what I am alluding to. Some kind of trust is set up that leads one on. For the purposes of this project, I refer to this trusting force as a ruling star. In making my film, I found myself in a wilderness of uncertainty. In all previous projects, I had a more resolute objective in mind. Now my steps were shaky and I was brought to places I've never been before. All I knew was that I wanted my film to be a look at California. I was born and bred in New York City, but have lived in California for nearly fifty years. I still feel like a tentative transplant - the "stranger in a strange land". So, as I have before, I wanted to use film to reach out and touch the particular oddness and beauty of my adopted home.
RULING STAR opens with an overture that takes place within a faux-Egyptian temple found in a suburban neighborhood. Delightful to see a dedication to Pharaoh Akhenaten who intuits a unifying principle uniting all forms and appearances.We move on to a series of worlds that seem to lead us to darker places.
At this writing, the projector's light has barely passed through the images of RULING STAR and I'm not too familiar with it. One note of interest - perhaps only to myself - is that my other films usually progress through the seasons from a stark Winter to a fulsome Summer, while here we begin in Summer and end in the darkness of Winter.
-Jerome Hiler