Presented in Association with Bay Area Filmmakers Showcase.

Anastomosis: 1) the establishment of an intercommunication between two blood vessels or nerves. 2) union of intercommunication between any system or network. Andrej Zdravic, a Yugoslavian filmmaker living and working in San Francisco, was introduced to the art of surgery by his father, a prominent plastic surgeon in Yugoslavia. “Through him a whole new world of beauty and meaning opened up to me, and a film resulted in 1975 entitled Phenix.” In 1980, Zdravic began filming the work of San Francisco micro-surgeon Dr. Harry Buncke, producing over five hours of films for medical audiences. “After having completed these films,” Zdravic writes, “I found myself free at last to realize my own synthesis of all that I had learned from these ‘anatomical lessons.' To this end, two important steps were taken. First, I put all the images away (knowing them full well in my mind) and went on to create a soundtrack consisting of body sounds, operating room noises and electronic sources. The work with sound refreshed me and freed me to associate between the surgeon's activity and the larger areas of existence. This in turn led me out to visit with former patients, and to film them in their daily work and play. It is with them that Anastomosis found its true meaning, and it is with the sound that it came to existence.”