Ian Bertorelli
Ian Bertorelli received a BFA from NYU Tisch’s Department of Dramatic Writing in 2009, and an MFA in Documentary Media from Northwestern University in 2020. His MFA thesis film, Sacred Brick Technology, was an official selection at the 56th Chicago International Film Festival. His short documentary, FREDDY, was selected as part of the Chicago Park District’s 2019 “Chicago Onscreen” Movies in the Park Showcase. He composes and performs music as Fumo Stromboli.
I am a multidisciplinary artist based in Chicago, Illinois. I makes documentary films that focus on the stories and secret histories of the city. My work is informed by my multidisciplinary background as a musician, a writer, and a carpenter.
Sacred Brick Technology
From city, to block, to building, to brick, SACRED BRICK TECHNOLOGY draws the viewer in to take a novel look at the familiar, pervasive, and yet often unnoticed masonry unit. The film combines dazzling imagery with interviews with architects, scholars and tradespeople to highlight every facet of the brick from its beginnings at the dawn of civilization to its role in building Chicago, a staggering metropolis that has been constructed almost entirely out of the very earth on which it stands.
The film is about the role of bricks in the development of Chicago and their place in the city's architectural heritage.
