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Connections Across Distances - International Artists


Location: Digital Library

Available with Digital Screenings Pass + All Access Pass

Time: Released on our Digital Library November 21st at 8AM PST

A selection of films from around the world, these international films embody quirky, contemplative, abstract and comedic approaches to movement-on-screen. These thoughtful creations capture spirits beyond the body sparking imagination and curiosity. 

As an on-demand experience, we encourage you to curate your own path through these films, choose your own adventure style; create a new order to customize your own experience, or make it a part of your daily morning, afternoon or evening routine throughout the week of the festival.

kopitoto - Lisa Kusanagi
PASSING PHASES - Jarren Lau Zong Xian
IN-CONTRO - Roberto Cherubini
THE MOOD OF MIST - Annika Wong
ABBIOSIS - Lucía García Paz
THE CONSTRUCT OF ONE - Hayden Rivas
KANTO - Alfonso Luis Sales


kopitoto

Lisa Kusanagi | JAPAN | EMERGING | VANCOUVER PREMIERE

Duration: 8:34

Between past/water and future/desert, a woman warrior dances to bring the water back.

A wintry forest comes to life in this delightfully weird collaboration between Lisa and JuJu Kusanagi and Yvonne Meier. Their choreography of snow and ice, trees and sunlight, body parts and forest creatures evokes the playful illusionism.

Credits:

Director: Lisa Kusanagi
Choreographers & Cast: Lisa Kusanagi, JuJu Kusanagi, Yvonne Meier
Cinematographer: Koichi Makino
Producers: Yvonne Meier, Lisa Kusanagi
Editor: Lisa Kusanagi
Composer: Ran Bagno

PASSING PHASES

Jarren Lau Zong Xian | SINGAPORE | EMERGING | CANADIAN PREMIERE

Duration: 6:26

Against the backdrop of William Blakes's "The Echoing Green", PASSING PHASES is a dance narrative film that celebrates the moment of now, the act of living.

Each dancer portrays the different phases in life; Birth, Growth and Death. Each with their own unique style and place, they exist together as a whole, much like the poem itself; the 3 stanzas that describe the act of living and it still seen as a whole.

Credits:

Director: Jarren Lau
Choreographers & Dancers: Chan Chao Peng, Cheryl Grace Wee, Pang Xue Jing
Cinematographer: Lee Jing Wei
Editor: Jarren Lau
Gaffer: Kester Kiew
Production Design: Sandra Sek

IN-CONTRO

Roberto Cherubini | ITALY | YOUTH | CANADIAN PREMIERE

Duration: 3:10

IN-CONTRO is a project that arises from the desire to investigate the relationships and correlations between the concept of space and time. The aim is to offer a vision of reality that assumes an illogical logic, for which two same bodies share the same space at the same time. The idea aims to provoke reflections upon the illusion of experiencing a shared and concrete reality online, where what we perceive as tangible is rather surreal, as it is subjected to personal interpretation and variations of space and time. 

Credits:

Director: Roberto Cherubini
Choreographers: Ilaria Ignesti and Roberto Cherubini
Dancers: Ilaria Ignesti and Roberto Cherubini
Cinematographer: Roberto Cherubini
Editing: Roberto Cherubini
Music: Dark Anthem (live in Paris) by Apparat

THE MOOD OF MIST

Annika Wong | UNITED STATES | YOUTH | CANADIAN PREMIERE

Duration: 3:09

A young woman explores her personal understanding of the mood and feeling associated with nostalgia, the longing for something past, and the humble acceptance of a profound love that was always meant to end. Movement based visuals combine with spoken word narration through an intimate letter that discusses the melancholy and joy that embodies what it means to live in New York City.

Credits:

Director, Performer, Writer, Editor: Annika Wong
Cinematographer: Anneliese Wong 
Music: Finesse by Django Reinhardt

ABBIOSIS

Lucía García Paz | SPAIN | EMERGING | VANCOUVER PREMIERE

Duration: 9:59

How many realities can coexist in the same place, without ever realizing each other?

Which are our limits to perceive the world around us?

A silent invasion that only can be noticed when it’s too late.

Two parallel realities that advance, ignoring each other.

ABBIOSIS shows us an imperceptible, inaudible and invisible being that expands through our world (without limits). The movie uses cinematographic and contemporary dance language to guide us to different places that, even if they are known to us, invite the viewer to look at them from another perspective. A mirror that offers us multiple realities, making us wonder if we know which is the real.

Credits:

Director, Choreographer: Lucía García
Dancers: Edurne Salas, Ainhoa Otero, Berta Pascual, Judith Capdevila
Cinematographer: Xavier Julià
Producer: Andrea Vilches, Lluïsa Puig
Sound designer: Marc Vilaseca

THE CONSTRUCT OF ONE

Hayden Rivas | UNITED STATES | YOUTH | CANADIAN PREMIERE

Duration: 4:21

Rivas writes: “This film was made with the intention of trying to showcase my own feelings of feeling isolated but consistently trying to brush it off. I'm surrounded by so many wonderful people that it feels as though I should have no complaints; however, at times I feel lost. I wanted to use movement to showcase the feelings that I wish I could express with words.”

Credits:

Director, Choreographer, Cinematographer, Editor: Hayden Rivas
Choreographer, Performer: William Okajima
Music: Gabriel Jon Griswold
Additional Music Editing: Michael Naffier

KANTO

Alfonso Luis Sales | PHILIPPINES | EMERGING

Duration: 3:57

During a hot summer day, a Taho vendor is surprised to see two other street vendors (Buko vendor and Balut Vendor) at his usual selling place in the park. Tensions rise when a potential customer arrives. The three vendors end up competing against each other showing their wits and skills with a mix of charm, showing why it’s always more fun in the Philippines.

Credits:

Director, Cinematographer, Editor: Alfonso Sales
Choreographers: Erik Cruz, Jigoro Gragasin, Elijah Mendoza
Producer: Sky Solitude Pictures
Production Manager, Colorist: Raine De los Reyes
Camera Operators: Shim Abrio, Kyle Chu, Raine De los Reyes
Production Assistants: Debie Rose Tiamson, Iñigo Abaya, Julia Rebollido, Karla Urquiaga, Marco Profeta