a
b
c

Obsessed with Light

Director Sabine Krayenbühl, Zeva Oelbaum
United States 2023
90 minutes
A documentary on the artistry of Loïe Fuller and her incredible impact on contemporary culture.

Synopsis

Obsessed with Light is not a bio-pic of pioneer Loïe Fuller, but rather an insightful examination of the artistry and incredible impact her work still has on contemporary culture, including artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Taylor Swift and Shakira. The American creator of modern dance, Fuller (1862-1928), created a completely new kind of spectacle which combined dance, fabric and movement. She propelled herself into swirling abstractions which made audiences gasp and she immediately understood the importance of copyright and protecting the ownership of innovations. Creating a dialogue between the past and the present, artists such as Robert Wilson, Bill T. Jones, Iris van Herpen, William Kentridge, Trajal Harrell and Studio Drift speak about her influence in their own work. ​

This film is currently not available.

Obsessed with Light is not a bio-pic of pioneer Loïe Fuller, but rather an insightful examination of the artistry and incredible impact her work still has on contemporary culture, including artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Taylor Swift and Shakira. The American creator of modern dance, Fuller (1862-1928), created a completely new kind of spectacle which combined dance, fabric and movement. She propelled herself into swirling abstractions which made audiences gasp and she immediately understood the importance of copyright and protecting the ownership of innovations. Creating a dialogue between the past and the present, artists such as Robert Wilson, Bill T. Jones, Iris van Herpen, William Kentridge, Trajal Harrell and Studio Drift speak about her influence in their own work. ​

Full credits

Section
Out of Competition
Director
Sabine Krayenbühl, Zeva Oelbaum
Production countries
United States
Production year
2023
Duration
90 minutes
Producer
Zeva Oelbaum, Sabine Krayenbühl, Christian Popp

You might also like:

Mimeisthai
Online
Mimeisthai Out of Competition

Phoebe Robinson, 2023, AU, 16 min

Mimeisthai is an experimental screendance that responds to Walter Benjamin’s concept of the ‘mimetic faculty’, which is, the ability to perceive and/or reproduce similarity. This generic skill is possessed by all living things and finds expression on various levels, from the biological to the behavioral; such as in reproduction or camouflage, to the myriad ways that creatures communicate.

In Mimeisthai movements are shared, copied and repeated between performers both on and off-screen, and then amplified across multiple frames. Through duplication, repetition, and layering multiple exposures, this work explores the mimetic faculty of dance and digital video.

Under the Sky of Fetishes
Online
Under the Sky of Fetishes Breaking the Chains

Caroline Déodat, 2023, FR, MU, 17 min

Under the Sky of Fetishes responds to the complexity of colonial archives. It reinvents the specters of a haunting gaze to tell the story of Mauritian sega – a cultural practice born during colonization and slavery, now mainly seen in tourism. How do we project, literally bring out of ourselves, the narrative of the oppressor? Mixing fiction and ethnography, the film sanctifies the power of the projection as a mental as well as intimate enigma to release ghostly and alienated bodies, including our own.

Sense of the Damaged
Online
Sense of the Damaged New Dutch

Miloushka Bokma, 2023, NL, 8 min

An allegorical film based on the news photos of refugees. Reality is often more absurd and bitter than you could have ever imagined. We are inundated with images that make us jaded in a certain way and our conscience has become a casual phenomenon of our time: today it is here, tomorrow it is gone.

The film is accompanied by a performance by artist Miloushka Bokma.