sonitus/somnia – a 60 second dance film

» When you awake in a dream, you find yourself in a strange place. Peculiar laws and unexpected rules may apply. You explore, and you learn. Once you master your environment, everything can become a magical game. Yet no one said you were in this dream space all by yourself… «

This short dance film was conceived, shot and edited over the course of one rainy afternoon.

Dear Galina Andreeva – dancer, choreographer and passionate creator – came visiting me at the time at my Berlin apartment. We knew we wanted to create something together again – and this time in moving pictures – but that was all. The approaching submission deadline for the 60secondsdance festival served as a welcome pretext to actually get started on something.

After playing around with possibilities and bouncing them back and forth between us, the starting point was quickly found: the idea that movement creates sound, rather than following it – and a dreamlike atmosphere that feels slightly off.

From there, everything fell quickly into place. The choreography was developed, my attic served as studio, available items were used from costume to light to “FX”.

In the end, from 272 international submissions, our contribution was selected in the Top 30 of the overall festival and into the Top 10 of the Finland section. Not the Oscars, certainly – but a lot more than we expected from a pleasant afternoon of fooling around.