Ivan Kander
In the pursuit of creative greatness, many artists struggle to find meaning in their work—how will what they make live beyond their physical time here on Earth? What’s the point of it all? Andrew Wilcox’s impressive profile documentary, Some Kind of Quest, attempts to answer that existential question through the lens of Bruce Zaccagnino—the mastermind behind Northlandz, a 52,000-square-foot model train installation 75 minutes outside Manhattan.
When we think of great artwork, miniature trains may not readily come to mind. But, as a collective display, Northlandz is clearly a masterpiece—the work of a genius. When interviewed, Zaccagnino attempts to cast off these labels. He’s a quiet and humble subject (and even a bit grouchy). But, it’s clear that as much as he attempts to downplay his accomplishment, he’s passionate about his creation. It’s common to ask an artist “why” he/she made a work in the first place—we attempt to logically categorize something that is inherently illogical. In my experience, there’s rarely a good answer to this question; sometimes the act of creating is what sustains us. In the case of Northlandz—with its 400 bridges and trestles, roughly 500,000 miniaturized trees, and eight miles of track—that’s most definitely true.
Admittedly, we see a lot of craft profile documentaries (there’s especially a surprising number about the creation of miniature things). In that regard, Quest isn’t exactly the most original doc we’ve featured. But, it’s hard to deny, the film’s appeal—there’s something just so fascinating in the detail displayed in Northlandz. It’s an entire tiny world that is clearly fake, yet feels so alive. This is Wilcox’s first film and he does a great job capturing both Northlandz as a place and Zaccagnino as a subject. A combination of macro photography and wider, sweeping shots gives the film a wonderful sense of scale. And, Zaccagnino comes off as both a stoic, yet approachable figure. As Wilcox relates in a fantastic interview with Atlas Obscura, his cinematographer, Matt Clegg, maneuvered his six-foot plus frame nimbly throughout Northlandz’s miniature world, doing his best not to leave any Godzilla-esque destruction in his wake.
With the completion of this film, Wilcox continues the pursuit of his personal passion projects. He plans to experiment with new mediums and is even dabbling with VR development. In the meantime, he’s sending Some Kind of Quest on the festival circuit so more people can experience the fruits of Zaccagnino’s imagination.