Luke Gilford is a filmmaker and photographer from Evergreen, Colorado and currently based in New York City and Los Angeles.
Luke studied Art at UCLA and his photography and films have been exhibited around the world; including MoMA in New York, FOAM in Amsterdam, and at Sundance's NEXT festival.
Luke's work provides a poetic and cinematic look into his surreal world, combining a unique visual style with a strong sense of intimacy with his subjects.
This is exemplified by Connected, the short film Luke wrote and directed in 2016, which premiered on VICE and received a Webby Award for ‘Best Drama’ in 2017.
Luke has directed music videos for Christina Aguilera, Kesha and Troye Sivan, and photographed & directed campaigns for Valentino, Apple and Mercedes Benz.
His work has been featured in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Vogue.
His photography monograph, National Anthem, was published in 2020 by Damiani Books and is currently a traveling exhibition to museums and galleries internationally.
Luke wrote and directed a feature film adaptation of National Anthem, premiering at South By Southwest Film Festival 2023.
Jackie is a burnt-out AuraCycle instructor in the midst of a midlife crisis. She's obsessed with self-improvement podcasts, and she is soon drawn to an advanced yet enigmatic wellness spa that promises to enhance her mind, body and soul. Guided by her effortless and nubile mentor, Luna, Jackie will give up anything to feel "connected" -- to herself, to the future, and to a precarious sense of perfection.
In Item Falls, we are peaking. We start out at a casting call, but before long we're firmly in the grip of hallucination, shedding our anxieties and evidently regressing to the animation era, a time when stunt chickens were mere chicklets. Friendly archetypes float in and out of what seems like our bedroom. The red-headed Jenny has returned, but this time she's squeaky and trusting. Unlike in Center Jenny, here our perspective is literally centered. The camera seems to be the in middle of the room, which is good, because we're too blissed out to move. Luckily, our hallucinations look directly at us.