Sincerely, Joe P. Bear

Polar bears, ice queens, lost love. Appropriated news clips from the 1960's combine with hand-painted film to tackle the momentous issue of how polar bears cope with heartbreak and rejection. One of my earliest films, SJPB was made with 16mm news footage that I found in the dumpster of a Portland television station. Probably shot in the mid 60s, the silent and unlabeled footage most likely was clips from news stories. Before I had enough funds to optically print and transfer the film, I would screen the original, hand manipulated film print (which i had spliced together with tape and razor-blade) and play the soundtrack on a separate device, literally switching on the projector and pressing play on a boom-box at the same time (the soundtrack was created with a 4-track cassette recorder). - Matt McCormick