Retro-Futurism: The Films of Lev Kalman & Whitney Horn

In a collaboration that stretches back to 2004, Kalman and Horn have created a sui generis style entirely their own, blending deadpan wit, invitingly handcrafted images on analog film, dreamy synth soundtracks, playful mixing and bending of genre tropes, a keen sense for the odd period detail, and casually tossed off sociopolitical insights. On the release of their latest, Dream Team, a visually arresting homage to the ’90s late-night cable erotic thriller, we look back over highlights from one of the most consistently exciting collaborations in 21st-century American independent film, including visits with teens searching for a “fountain of youth” (Blondes in the Jungle), indolent graduate students filling idle hours with talk (L for Leisure), and urbane sight-seekers in 1890s Colorado (Two Plains & a Fancy).