For many, the process of finding footage online and crafting a well-thought-out plot and connection between these shots may seem incredibly daunting and time-consuming. For musician and filmmaker Robbie C. Williamson, it is an exciting opportunity to craft something extremely unique and intriguing. Williamson’s found footage film God Teeth represents this excitement and exemplifies the exceptional results of his long-term efforts and passion for storytelling.
God Teeth surrounds four passed souls, Albert, Boom, Campbell, and Rose, who are stuck on an abandoned ship and are forced to retell the stories of their passings under the threat of evil stingrays desiring to suppress the dead by wrecking their ship. Once the souls have told their full story and have come to terms with it, they are free from the stingrays. The hour-long film delves into their individual stories with great care and attention by Williamson over the course of the nearly 5 years it took to make the film. The film itself begins with a shot of an abandoned ship. In an interview with the New Jersey Film Festival, Williamson discusses the importance of this first shot as that whole shot was found before he had a full idea of what he wanted the film to be. That singular shot sparked the idea of this purgatory world with deceased souls damned to tell their stories.
The footage within God Teeth itself is intriguing and unique in how it's intertwined and spun within its narrative. Williamson took 4 ½ years to collect all the footage, and in his search, he mostly focused on videos that had gained less attention from the internet to create something more distinctive. In the same interview, he recalls how he let the footage inform him of the story as he found it, allowing for a better and more interesting filmmaking process. Most of the clips are from online, with only a few seconds being from Williamson’s own phone. His devout efforts and long-term dedication greatly pay off, as the film is like no other in its haunting yet compelling nature. Audiences listen to 4 different stories of people’s passings, yet every character’s story is unique and captivating in its own way. The character's differences themselves also add to the intriguing nature of the film, from Boom, a 10-year-old swimmer, to Rose, an adult sports agent. These characters are incredibly different, yet all suffer the same turmoil under the sting rays. The varying characters and their vastly different stories add to the film's interest and a more unique experience for its audiences. God Teeth feels unsettling in the most unique way, and it is meant to be. Its assorted footage and haunting voices and music create this nature.
Within God Teeth, the characters narrate their own stories. However, Williamson chose to utilize text-to-speech AI voices over voice actors. He had originally tested having voice actors narrate the characters but found that he felt more emotion from the AI voices over the voice actors. For the film, this decision was critical as it instilled the chilling and eerie tone of the film with how detached the characters feel as they narrate their story. Additionally, the score, created by Williamson’s friend Martin Burial, adds to the haunting nature of the film. These elements, paired with the unfamiliar and mysterious footage, create the feeling that God Teeth instills in you of nervousness and uneasiness.
God Teeth is a truly unique film in its filmmaking process, visual components, and audio components. Williamson’s work tells the foreboding stories of four lost souls attempting to escape the captivity of their stingray enemies after experiencing disorienting deaths. The film creates a lingering feeling of uneasiness throughout its run and, at its end, leaves its audience with an uneasy feeling of calmness as the character’s times have passed, but their stories remain.
God Teeth screens with the short The Traumatist at the Spring 2025 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, February 7. The film will be Online for 24 Hours on this show date and In-Person at 7 PM in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ. Tickets are available for purchase here.
The 43rd Bi-Annual New Jersey Film Festival will be taking place on select Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays between January 24-February 21, 2025. The Festival will be a hybrid one as it will be presented online as well as doing in-person screenings at Rutgers University. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. VoD start times are at 12 Midnight Eastern USA. Each General Admission Ticket or Festival Pass purchased is good for both the virtual and the in-person screenings. Plus, acclaimed singer-songwriter Renee Maskin will be doing an audio-visual concert on Friday, February 21 at 7PM! The in-person screenings and the Renee Maskin concert will be held in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ beginning at 5PM or 7PM on their show date. General Admission Ticket=$15 Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$100; In-Person Only Student Ticket=$10 Per Program.
For more info go here: https://newjerseyfilmfestivalspring2025.eventive.org/welcome
