JUST BE THERE
93', DCP, OV with Eng. subt., a film about dance rehearsals by Caspar Pfaundler
Premiere and Vernissage: Friday December 1st 2023 7:00 pm Metrokino
Johannesgasse 4, 1010 Vienna, Tel.: +43 1 512 18 03 (daily 14:00-21:00)
Further screenings at Metrokino:
Sa 02.12. 19:00
So 03.12. 19:00
Mo 04.12. 20:15
Di 05.12. 20:15
Mi 06.12. 20:15
Do 07.12. 20:15
Fr 08.12. 19:30 with discussion (Ulrike Kuner, Andrea Amort und Andrey Kaydanovskiy)
Sa 09.12. 20:00
So 10.12. 20:15
Mo 11.12. 20:15
Di 12.12. 18:00
Mi 13.12. no screening
Do 14.12. 20:00
Fr 15.12. 20:15
Sa 16.12. 18:00
So 17.12. 18:00 with finissage
(Screenings in Austrian state provinces are planed.)
HERE I AM
Exhibition of paintings from the movie JUST BE THERE and how they developed... at Metrokinokulturhaus Level 1, Dec. 1 - 17 (not on Dec. 13), open 15 min before until 30 min after the screenings Johannesgasse 4, 1010 Vienna
Synopsis
JUST BE THERE is a documentary film about how dance performances take shape. From behind the scenes, it follows rehearsals with ensemble members of Taiwan's Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and dancers from the Vienna State Ballet, including Manuel Legris, its legendary former ballet director.
The focus is on the creative process between the choreographer and the dancers, both in modern ballet and contemporary dance. It is by turns philosophical, then sometimes shows how practical problems are confronted and overcome. Rehearsals are invariably intricate and always breathtaking.
With Nina Poláková, Manuel Legris, Patrick de Bana, Cheng Tsung-lung, Chantal Lefèvre, Shino Takizawa a. m. o.
World Premiere Diagonale 2022
Director's Statement:
"In my original version (April 2022) there were no subtitles. I felt body-language was enough to follow what was going on. But audience feedback (at Jihlava IDFF) suggested that not understanding what was being said was alienating, which was not my intention at all.
So English subtitles have been added for the French, Mandarin, and German spoken parts. As many as necessary and as few as possible - but body-language remains central.
In this film Taiwanese dance favours parts with a group of dancers, while in Vienna there is frequently a pas de deux of two dancers only. Does that signal cultural differences between Asia and Europe? The group versus the individual? It could be read like that. But the creative process involved in rehearsing is particular and fascinating in both cases." C. P.
"... Simply being there is one of the instructions that the choreographer Patrick de Bana gives to his dancers. That is also a modus operandi that the film suggests to its viewers: it's about being present as body with eyes and ears rather than understanding in a rational sense."
(Alejandro Bachmann in Diagonale print catalog, world premiere Diagonale 2022)
"...during the 93 minutes that follow, an almost tender and happy sigh will run through the audience. I know. I was there..."
(Claudia Siefen-Leitich, deistfilm.com)
Caspar Pfaundler studied Art History and Film-science at the Vienna University an wrote his theses about "On the Seaside - in Movies".
With his fiction feature SCHOTTENTOR he was invited to the competition of International Film Festival Rotterdam IFFR. He works as an independent filmmaker in Taiwan and Austria and lives in Vienna.
A MILLIONAIRE'S MELANCHOLY documentary feature 2019, FRAU MARIA UND DIE LIQUIDIERUNG DER STOFFHANDLUNG STASTNY short-documentary 2018, GEHEN AM STRAND fiction feature 2013, SCHOTTENTOR fiction feature 2009 (IFF Rotterdam Tiger award nomination), LOST AND FOUND 2001 fiction feature (excerpt, all movies scriptwriter and director)