Driving Not Knowing

Dir. Benjamin R. Davis, Dylan Hansen-Fliedner, Jay Jadick, Dane Mainella 2015, USA, 87min, Narrative Feature
Dir. Benjamin R. Davis, Dylan Hansen-Fliedner, Jay Jadick, Dane Mainella
2015, USA, 87min, Narrative Feature

Lee, a drug-addled yet sensitive musician, is in love with Will, an ambitious poet. Volatile and intense, Will is hesitant to make himself vulnerable to Lee’s affection. After a year apart, the two reunite for a weekend at Lee’s home in the country. Not knowing how to be free and connected at the same time, the men struggle to find what they are driving towards.

“It’s the small details of human interaction and attraction that make this haunting, minimal tale so compelling; DRIVING NOT KNOWING moves like a trip down a picturesque river where love and conflict constantly threaten to disrupt the still waters.” -OUTFEST, LOS ANGELES

Filmmaker Bios

DANE MAINELLA is an American filmmaker, photographer, and writer. Born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, he studied poetry and mechanical engineering at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He has made various independent films, including Driving Not Knowing, which he co-wrote, co-directed, starred in and co-edited, and Superamerica, which he also wrote, co-directed, starred in and edited. He has published three books of poetry, Desire, Notes and Driving, as well as one novel, Suicide Heaven. He currently lives in Brooklyn.

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DYLAN HANSEN-FLIEDNER is a Brooklyn based filmmaker. In addition to Driving Not Knowing, he is the co-editor and associate producer of the feature length documentary Finding Babel (SIFF Official Selection 2016). Mr. Hansen-Fliedner’s second feature as director of photography and co-director (with Jadick and Mainella) is titled Superamerica. His poetry has been published by Gauss PDF and 89plus/LUMA Foundation and has been featured in The Atlantic. Mr. Hansen-Fliedner’s work as an editor and director bridges documentary and fiction.

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JAY JADICK is an artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Driving Not Knowing is his first feature film with this filmmaking collective. He is also in the Brooklyn-based band TREO ’09. He is currently working on an upcoming project with the same forces behind DNK while managing other obsessions.

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BENJAMIN R. DAVIS is a NYC-based freelance cinematographer, photographer, and writer/director. Following Driving Not Knowing, Davis is currently in pre-production for his second feature film as a writer/director. Most recently, he has worked as a 1st AC and Key Grip for TV and Film (MTV, Discovery Channel, NBC, etc.) as well as a Gaffer for multiple films (DANA, Syskön, Stillman’s Portrait, etc.) He has also served as a writer, director, cinematographer, and editor for various short films–Neighborhood Bike Works (2012), Gray (2012), Feed Me (2013)–as well as multiple event pieces ranging from a Mac DeMarco concert to an interview with Agnès Varda.