The Wind That Held Us Here (2021)

Jack Cronin

The Wind That Held Us Here Jack Cronin USA16mm > digital6 min2021

During their annual migration to Mexico, thousands of monarch butterflies funnel into Point Pelee National Park in Leamington, Ontario, where they wait for calm weather to allow them to fly across Lake Erie. The Wind That Held Us Here uses images and sound captured at Point Pelee National Park, as well as poetic text, to explore the concept of transmigration. The visual style uses monochromatic tones to isolate the shapes and natural features of the park, inviting the viewer to focus on the invisible but always present wind. The film is intended as a visual expression of the fleeting wind and ever-passing time. – Jack Cronin  

Streaming Details

This film is available to stream globally.

Program Partners

This film is co-presented with the Art Gallery of Windsor and Windsor Endowment for the Arts.

Image credits: all artworks, stills, and portraits courtesy of the artist © Jack Cronin.

about the artist

Jack Cronin (USA) is an artist, filmmaker, and educator born in Royal Oak, Michigan in 1973. Working primarily with analogue formats, his practice often combines documentary and experimental techniques to explore urban and natural landscapes and the cycles of the seasons, along with poetic interpretations of place. He received a BSc in Telecommunications & Film from Eastern Michigan University (1997) and an MFA in Film from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2001). His films, including The Deer and the Antelope (2002), Invisible City (2006), Sleeping Bear (2010), Rivergarden (2013), Pictured Rocks (2019), and Mirage (2019), have been exhibited at festivals, museums, and galleries, including The Museum of Modern Art (Rio de Janeiro),  Austin Arthouse Film Festival, Dennos Museum Center, Black Maria Film and Video Festival, Public Space One, Athens International Film Festival, Cellular Cinema, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Green Lantern Gallery, Antimatter Film Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Yale University, and Tacoma Film Festival, among many others. He has taught film, video, and media arts at Wayne State University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the College for Creative Studies. He is currently tenured faculty at Oakland Community College. He lives and works in Ann Arbor and Oakland County, Michigan.  

Artist interview