Cinemateket, Filmens Hus 3. - 8. October 2004
Welcome to the 8th edition of Ultima Film – Dans for Kamera in Oslo, which this year takes place prior to the main programme of the Ultima Festival. As usual there will be a varied programme of films from near and far, in which choreography, dance and music are the main ingredients. The main themes of this year’s programme are rituals, ecstasy, intimacy and madness in art.
Ecstasy can imply a powerful emotional condition characterised by rapture, enthusiasm, or a state of trance. It can also describe a state of sacred one-being with one’s personal god or with the whole of creation. This latter description gives a good idea of the film about the Russian dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky, one of the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He modernised the art of dance with his innovative performances which were received with delight and amazement. For a large part of his life Nijinsky suffered from mental diseases, and ended his days in a Swiss sanatorium. There are hardly any moving pictures of him, however the Dutch-Australian film director Paul Cox has been able to create an intimate, poetic and thought provoking journey into Nijinsky’s world based on his own diaries, Cahiers, read by Sir Derek Jacobi. Celebrating Nijinsky the dancer, the film explores the mind of a genius on the outer verge of reason
Canadian Édouard Lock and his company La La La Human Steps have been met with almost ecstatic acclaim for their energetic choreography. Now they return with the dazzlingly beautiful Amelia which has already won several awards around the world. Lock continues to explore point technique using complexity, extended intertwining solos, complex partnering sequences, play on speed and extremes, and partial isolation of movements through use of lighting. The original score written by David Lang for violin, cello, piano and voice combines evocative minimalism to lyrics from five of Lou Reed's most famous works created in the 60s for the Velvet Underground.
Another influential choreographer is Lloyd Newson and his London-based DV8 Physical Theatre. They are renowned for taking physical and aesthetic risks in their challenging of current trends. For the first time in nine years Newson has made a new film - The Cost of Living - an event in itself. The stories are told through a combination of stylised movement and dialogue. All of the stories are about how we value ourselves and other people. From the ever-productive England comes the third instalment of the series Capture, a laudable initiative from the Arts Council England consisting of five very different films by both experienced and less experienced film makers. It aims to develop, diversify and raise the profile of screen-based dance through providing funding to artists to make new work in this genre.
The Dutch composer Louis Andriessen is known for, among other things, his collaboration with Peter Greenaway and Hal Hartley. He also composed the music to The Alien (1980). In conjunction with Andriessen’s visit to Oslo and the Ultima Festival as the main festival composer, we include the documentary The Road – a film about making music, inspired by Tao-Te Ching, cultural differences, and rituals. The film is directed by Andriessen’s fellow countryman Frank Scheffer, who specializes in films about music. The theme of rituals is explored further in the Australian documentary Dances of Ecstasy. A sensory journey into the mesmerising world of trance and ecstasy that binds dancers from Manhattan to Morocco directed by Michelle Mahrer and Nicole Ma. Both of these films are being shown for the first time in collaboration with The Oslo Films from the South festival
The performance artist Marina Abramoviç is also interested in rituals and Tibetan thinking. Early in the 1970s she began exploring various types of performance. In the dream-like film Balkan Baroque she has created a fusion of fantasy and reality. The film was directed by the French film maker Pierre Coulibeuf, who has also contributes with the very recent film Somewhere in Between in collaboration with choreographer Meg Stuart. The film proposes a reflection on the body’s postures in the everyday life of individuals, how choreographic work feeds on social life and individual behaviours observed in daily life. There are three more gems of films from France, produced by Patrice Nezan, a leading figure in French dance films in recent years. He has gathered a colourful bouquet of very different choreographers such as Akram Khan, Wayne McGregor and Kitt Johnson, just to mention a few. This programme is sponsored by Centre Culturel Français in Oslo.
In addition to all of the above there will also be the opportunity for a unique look at the creative process in the work of multi-talented Wim Vandekeybus and Ultima Vez. With the audience as a fly on the wall we follow him and seven female dancers during the first three months of work on a new performance. An intimate atmosphere pervades the award-winning Swiss film The Moebius Strip by Gilles Jobin and Vincent Plus. This is a sensual and hypnotic camera examination of the human body in fascinating, sculptural postures. Mention must also be made of three new Norwegian short dance films, Past Bedtime by Kristin Hauksdóttir, Shaping Up by Thomas Ostbye and Virgintrip by Vivild Bergersen and much, much more!
The programme has been produced by Ultima, the Norwegian Center for the Art of Dance, Cinemateket, and the Norwegian Film Institute. Lastly we would like to take this opportunity to thank all who have contributed to this year’s Ultima Film – Dans for Kamera, and to bid our audience welcome to the ultimate film experience!
Welcome & enjoy!
Magne Antonsen
Artistic Director
Ultima Film - Dans for Kamera
