Aiden Dillard is an American independent film director and artist. He is known for using
surreal humor and
camp (style) within the confines of
low-budget film. Aiden Dillard was born in
Escondido, California, but grew up in
Durham, North Carolina
Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...
. Aiden Dillard's feature films and video art often deals with contrasts between a
rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...
and
urban area
An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
, and
high culture
In a society, high culture encompasses culture, cultural objects of Objet d'art, aesthetic value that a society collectively esteems as exemplary works of art, as well as the literature, music, history, and philosophy a society considers represen ...
and
low culture. While studying at
Cooper Union in New York City on a full-tuition scholarship, his student film "
The Battle of the Burps and Farts" was screened at
TromaDance 2004;
it was the only film in the history of the festival that was booed by everybody in attendance.
Upon graduation Aiden Dillard directed an outrageous psychedelic spoof of "
Reefer Madness", titled "
Meat Weed Madness", which featured set decoration by Joe Holtzman, the editor-in-chief of
Nest (magazine), and crudely constructed props and
stop-motion
Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animation, animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appe ...
animation. "
Meat Weed Madness" premièred at the
Wolfsonian-FIU in December 2005 during
Art Basel Miami Beach, and was released on DVD by
Troma Entertainment in 2006.
Aiden Dillard's even more outrageous sequel ''Meat Weed America'' was released by Troma Entertainment on DVD in the fall of 2007; the film features Troma's president
Lloyd Kaufman
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featu ...
,
Debbie Rochon, and
Peter Stickles.
In 2008, Aiden Dillard moved to
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, and wrote, produced, and directed a psychedelic crime-drama about children with
autism who see angels called ''Special Angelz'', which premiered at
Borscht Film Festival. In 2009, Aiden Dillard wrote, produced, and directed an action-comedy spoof of ''
Death Wish'' called ''Death Print'', which was set in the Miami art-world and shows an art dealer, played by Ted Vernon, who battles a Cuban Communist terrorist, with the help of musician
Otto Von Schirach. This movie had a sold out premiere at the Colony Theatre in
South Beach. From 2010 to 2012, Aiden Dillard performed in an art noise band, called Ballscarf, that incorporated video projections and Aiden Dillard's own nudity to produce an effect that was described as "nightmaris chaos".
In 2013, Aiden Dillard moved back to
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
and began to focus on visual art. In 2014, Troma Entertainment released Aiden Dillard's campy yet bloody
slasher film ''Bikini Swamp Girl Massacre'' on DVD.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillard, Aiden
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
People from Durham, North Carolina
Film directors from North Carolina