Painting Cathedral Rock, Experimental Film / Video Installation
Part painting, part performance, part film, Painting Cathedral Rock is a quiet meditation on the unstable edges of vision, cinematic spectacle, belief, and subjectivity. A silhouetted figure washes, cleans, and paints the iconic view of Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona—a sacred Indigenous site and popular vortex destination. Ambiguous, shifting references emerge from the cinematic and spiritual to climate change, colonialism, and landscape painting—both revealing and concealing the landscape and inviting a ritualistic exploration of looking with heightened care.
Directed, produced, edited, and performed by Mel Day with the support of the Sedona Artist Residency, Sedona Arts Center/Sedona AIR Bay Area Group organized by Melissa Wyman; Filmed at the Gretchen Warren Interfaith Chapel, Verde Valley School, Arizona; Video editing assistance: Justin Edwards; Cinematography and Sound: James Kelley for Shot by Ryan. Special thanks to Robin Treen, Robin Lasser, and to the Sedona AIR staff for their critical support.
2026
SUNDIAL FILM FESTIVAL, Best Experimental Film Award
March 21 at 7pm, 2026, Cascade Theatre, Redding, California, Tickets and Info
LA INDEPENDENT WOMEN FILM AWARDS, 2026
BERLIN INDIE FILM FESTIVAL, Official Selection, 2026
LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL FILM SHORTS, Official Selection (March, 2026)
NEW YORK SHORTS AWARDS, Nominee
TORONTO ART FILM SPIRIT AWARDS, Nominee
CAULDRON INTERNATIONAL FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL, Official Selection, Salt Lake City, Utah
2025
SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART
Film Art / Art Film Fest
Nov. 7th, 2025
Painting Cathedral Rock, Mel Day, experimental film short, 2026 (TRT: 3:16)
Painting Cathedral Rock (Film Still), Mel Day, experimental film short, Work-in-progress installation
Mel Day, Painting Cathedral Rock, Video Installation with sound (TRT: 3:16), 2025
Painting Cathedral Rock (Film Still), Mel Day, experimental film short, 2025 (TRT: 3:16)
Produced with the support of the Sedona Artist Residency, Sedona Arts Center and Verde Valley School; Filmed at the Gretchen Warren Interfaith Chapel, Verde Valley School, Arizona.
Credits:
Directed, performed, and edited by Mel Day
Video Editing Assistance: Justin Edwards
Cinematography & Sound: James Kelley for Shot by Ryan
Thanks to the support of: Melissa Wyman, organizer of Sedona AIR Bay Area group and AIR (Michael Namkung, Amanda Curreri, Llewelynn Fletcher, Lukaza Brandman-Verrisimo, Grace Rosario Perkins, José Luis Iñiguez, Cara Levine, Weston Teruya, Melissa Wyman, Mel Day)
Carol Holyoake, Manager, Sedona Arts Center
Eric Holowacz, Excecutive Director, Sedona Arts Center
Paul Amadio, Head of Verde Valley School
Sedona Arts Center
Verde Valley School