Art, Life & the Future: Experimental Shorts

Take (te reo Maori: issue, promise, challenge) weaves mana wahine (female knowledge), dance and archival materials to retell the story of the removal of the ancestral Maori meetinghouse, Hinemihi o te Ao Tawhito, from Aotearoa, New Zealand to England in 1892. Set in the liminal spaces between history and emotion Take unfolds a story of origins, of traumatic events and colonial violence.

1800-DREAMS is an experimental found-footage film that explores the disconnect from reality one can feel in a digital age, and how escapism is a privilege that can't last forever. This film has been created solely from public domain ephemera and archival material.

This animated short acknowledges the limitations of the visual. Coronavirus has brought that home to us. To view is not enough. Presence is more than visual. It connects to the physicality of ‘now’, but also to memory, memory of our senses reacting to what we see. Smell, touch, sound; in coronavirus times, some are lost, some amplified.

Together under the sun during lockdown. We all see the same sun. We yearn for the sun. Always the sun. Even when our world seems to swing off its axis, there is always the sun.

Georgia is thoroughly alone in her torments. A mystery briefcase that sits in the front of her car is her only solace. One night, as her anxiety reaches its peak, and as her ex-husband denies her cry for help, she is forced to resort to any means possible to escape her torture.

An abstract artwork shot in isolation yearning for the sharing of a meal.

Reminiscence is the third instalment of Lucy's Dancing For Jane film series which is an annual project intending to accumulate as a visual journey of grief & healing over time.

Petrichor traces a short journey about insects and animal’s population decline that affects ecosystems and humanity which would leave only a memory of them for us in the near future.

The past and present intertwine as a retired astronomer reflects on her deepest love.

All the Colours offers a glimpse into the casual rollercoaster of a relationship bound together in house lockdown during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Shot and edited by The Samaya Wives, featuring themselves, this documentary dance film blends their respective careers as Dancer and Filmmaker, and captures an authentic snapshot of their marriage during these strange times.

Produced during the COVID-19 pandemic, this micro short film explores isolation. A young woman thought she’d miss her ex in isolation … but she doesn’t. Seemingly stranded in a barren, concrete landscape, she is alone but not lonely: instead, she’s found solace in her solitude.

A quirky therapist hopes to plant some positivity in the mind of a young client – The Musical.

"This weight is not mine. The expectations. Placed on me. On the body in which I was born. By traditions built. Over history. Into societies. Ruled by men."

When women dance it is a revolutionary act. She thinks of herself, of her body, as she twirls. She puts herself first.