VOID

While the shade of a tree is being stolen away, bodiless organs sit in the enormous gaps of the drained earth. Under the constant noise of unseen machines, disjointed body parts touch the drying soil and breaths are only audible to insects. In this quiet, distorted world, old songs of goodwill are sung: “Future times of vain sorrow do not disturb our gentle sleep…” While we are waiting for the miracle to come the sand continues to fly.

VOID explores the possibility of connecting sensuously  to environments devastated by human intervention, such as an open coal mine in Lower Lusatia.

In contemporary Western perception, humans are placed at the center of all things. The “non-human” is often relegated to the background and/or seen as existing solely to serve human needs or be used by humans.

In VOID, we aim to challenge this tendency. At its core, the project is an artistic exploration of an anti-anthropocentric perspective and its cinematic translation. Instead of placing the subject in the center of attention as an “identity”,  the body itself transforms into a landscape and the landscape becomes the protagonist. The body becomes decentered, while shifting the focus to any body part as a center.

Our approach focuses strongly on the connection, sensory engagement, and friction between organic and inorganic bodies. The attempt is to be present at these sites with bodies, capturing and conveying the resulting energy and sensations back into space.

VOID addresses one of the dark insights of a possible future that we all know but are afraid to talk about.

Directed by Senem Gökce Ogultekin & Levent Duran

Encounter / Performance:

Joséphine Evrard

Jana Griess

Roberta Mosca

Lisa Pottstock

Benjamin van Bebber

Jonas Leifert

Peter Rubel

 

Choreographic Framework: Senem Gökçe Oğultekin

Editing: Maya Connors

Director of Photography: Constanza Sandoval

Sound Design: Melih Sarigöl

Grading: Christian Lessner

Second Camera / DIT: Lukas Schupp

Sound / Field Recording: Daniel Tekieli

Line Producer: Tobias Ochterbeck

Costume: Levent Duran

Dramaturgy: Jonas Leifert

Assistance Direction: Emine Akbucak

Camera Assistance: Micaela Masetto

 

Catering: Oktay Çağla

Embodiment Coach: Corinna Zimmermann

Digital Imaging Technician: Shahira Issa, Aslı Dinç

Production Management: Arda Çiltepe (Film), Lena Peters (Dance)

Production support: David Ruf, Frank Scheuffele

Production assistance: Raneem Zarkan

Research support:

Julia Tielke (Camera)

Leyla Postalcıoğlu (Choreography)

Jan Godde (Sound)

Lisa Pottstock (Music)

Songs

Künftige Zeiten aus neun deutsche Arien -Georg Friedrich Händel

Bist du bei mir – Johann Sebastian Bach

Supported by the NATIONAL PERFORMANCE NETWORK – STEPPING OUT, funded by the Minister of State for Culture and Media within the framework of the initiative NEUSTART KULTUR. Assistance Program for Dance.

Funded by

MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein

Kunststiftung NRW

Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg

With kind support of

Pact Zollverein

North Rhine – Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts

Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg

 

Heartfelt thanks to:

Leo Hofmann

Svenjo Heymann

David Ruf (Rocinante Film)

Frank Scheuffele

Louis Fried

Philipp Hartmann

Merve Kayan

Meltem Sari

Aslı Kobaner

Benjamin Block

Alejandro Russo

Anette Müller

Yusuf Elbaşı

Leo Bruges

Nathan Bontrager

Peter Daners

Viktor Brim

Sebastian Fischer

Tuncer Kalaycı

Maren Thomson

Emilio Percan

Walter Söntgerath

Emel Batır

and Alice Duran