“Wood” Music Video Touring Film Festivals

Mar 17

Experimental Music Video and Film “Wood” from album 1989 by Disparition Attracting New Audiences With Multiple New Screenings in 2026

Los Angeles, CA - March 17, 2026

Look for “Wood,” the music video for the song Wood from the album 1989 by Disparition, at film festivals globally and streaming online throughout 2026.

“Wood” is a short experimental music video / film based on an original song by Disparition that first premiered in Spring of 2010. The music video extends the conceptual framework of the album 1989 (first released in 2008) into a cinematic form. Where the album constructs a detailed aural narrative of the final days of the Communist era in Eastern Europe, drawing on 1980s-era synthesizer compositions, archival samples from the Romanian Revolution, and modern found sounds, the film translates this approach into image. Through a stark assemblage of found footage from the Romanian Revolution of 1989, “Wood” examines historical collapse, state violence, and the fragility of memory.

The 1989 Romanian Revolution is remembered today as the first major conflict to be broadcast live as national television network Televiziunea Română (TVR) documented the national uprising that began on December 22, 1989 and the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu in subsequent days. The Romanian security service, the Securitate, had been known to orchestrate TVR’s broadcast performances, but on December 22, 1989, events seemed to spiral out of control, leading to the broadcast being cut when protestors began chanting in Revolution Square. When rioters occupied Romanian television the next day, the Romanian Revolution unfolded live on television. “Wood” includes footage from TVR during this period, as well as many striking images shot by photojournalists. All clips and images were sourced from Archive.org and YouTube in 2010.

First created in October 2009 and directed and edited by Deepthi Welaratna (Disparition’s creative partner in Society of the Wing and Scale), the film mirrors the album’s method and mood, refusing linear narrative in favor of accumulation, repetition, and rupture. Operating as both political meditation and elegy, “Wood” asks how histories of revolution are constructed, mediated, and forgotten. The video uses creative editing techniques to re-present 4:3 aspect ratio video feeds of standard-definition (SD) 576i (720x576 pixels). The current music video is formatted for HD 1080p online with DCP and other formats available for cinematic screening events.

In a contemporary moment shaped by renewed authoritarianism and contested historical narratives, the film’s insistence on looking directly at the archive has gained renewed urgency. “Wood” was originally awarded an honorable mention at The New School’s 2010 Mixed Messages Showcase, and has received new attention in 2026 as a nominee for best music video at the 2026 Indie European Cinema & Screenplay Festival and 2026 Chicago Indie Film Awards, and also as an official selection of 2026 Hollywood ShortsFest virtual program.

For more information, contact Deepthi at deepthi@tinylittlecosmos.co or 415-335-0500.

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Overview:

What: Music video for “Wood” by Composer/Producer Jon Bernstein / Disparition (Welcome to Night Vale, Alice Isn’t Dead) from the album 1989 and directed/edited by Deepthi Welaratna.

Why: “Wood” is a short experimental music video / film that uses 1980s-era synthesizer compositions and archival samples from the Romanian Revolution of 1989 to construct a detailed aural and visual narrative of the final days of the Communist era in Eastern Europe.

Who: Audiences interested in electronic and industrial soundscapes, Romanian history and authoritarian regimes, and experimental and archival-based storytelling

Where: At film festivals and on streaming platforms

Festivals:

Nominee, Best Music Video - 2026 Indie European Cinema & Screenplay Festival (screening date TBA)
Nominee, Best Music Video - 2026 Chicago Indie Film Awards (screening date TBA)
Honorable Mention - 2026 Hollywood Shorts Fest (and official selection of virtual program streaming online from March 26-29, 2026)