HEROINE
2013 - Single Screen Film - 20min - HD or 2K - color - 5.1 or Stereo
Description
In 2004 Taiwanese performer Wen-Chi Su and German choreographer Arco Renz created the solo “Heroine” around one of the fundamental differences between Eastern and Western cultures reflected in the performing arts: the notion of vertical time and vertical space in the East as opposed to horizontal time and horizontal space in the West.
The film Heroine offers a cinematic reading of the eponymous choreography.
Embracing the possibilities of the camera and adding a fourth element to the three spirals of dance light and music the film translates the dramaturgy within another medium, with its own set of rules. Retaining the progressive reconstruction of a body in a space, through fragmentation and repetition, the film radically reverses the viewpoint and perspective on the performance, taking the viewer in a relation of closeness and intimacy to the performer.
Focusing on the subtle variations underlying the repetitive elements of the choreography is the singular and virtuosic performance by Wen-Chi Su. It has been the filmmaker’s intention to translate the energy and intensity of the performer and re-construct an immersive sensation, which ultimately evokes the trance she enacts.
Heroine - set still - Photo: Maya Wilsens
Credits
Directed by Alexis Destoop | After a choreography by Arco Renz | Performed by Wen-Chi Su
Lighting by Jan Maertens | Cinematography by Sebastien Koeppel Camera assistance and grip by Juan Sepulchre & Artur Castro Freire | Editing by Alexis Destoop & Paul Millot Colour grading and effects by Paul Millot & Loup Brenta Music Marc Appart Sound design by Peter Lenaerts Additional sounds and foley by Ashley Scott Sound Mixing Senjan Jansen Mastered @ Stempel & Senstudio
Produced by Kobalt Works | Executive producer Wieter Bloemen | Production assistance by Maya Wilsens Co-produced by Les Brigittines Art Centre (BE) With the support of STUK Art Centre & the Flemish Authorities
A preview from HEROINE (2013)