PICKS 2
September 20th @ 7:00PM | The Tomorrow Theater | Run Time: 1 hour 30 minutesThe eight films of Picks 2 explore the slippery layers of time and how we surrender into its supposed reality. We begin with The Joy and Sorrow of Time (Denmark), a sunlit meditation on community vibrancy and the delicate dance of possibilities. In i am woman (USA/Oregon) we peer into the cyclical flow and screech of a woman’s daily meeting of the world as the wheels fall off and she cleanses the discord.
From there we are delivered into the hypersaturated, supernatural arms of HipHop Purée (Australia) in which two sisters confront one another on a perilous journey to Thursday night’s dinner in their suburban home. The color continues and then fades in SEASONS (Poland), a playful and editorial expression of nature’s themes in four distinct chapters.
The second half begins with The Meaning of February (USA/Oregon), a solo elegy of profound grief set in the particular weight of the Pacific Northwest winter. Kielo (Finland) reminds us: “We all have a poetic body that dances when encouraged.” Youth, neurodivergence, and the tension between sitting still and authentic movement are given compassionate time.
In One Human Show (USA), experimental film becomes a tool for questioning gender roles and societal hierarchies as the subject encounters themselves in varied roles, and we end the evening with the stunning film What Remains (Belgium), a haunting, multigenerational inquiry into memory, inheritance, and the shapes grief makes as it settles in the body.
8 Films | Run Time W/Intermission: ~1hour 30minutes
The Joy and Sorrow of Time
Denmark
Director: Sara Jordan @sara_jordan78
Starring: Supa Rich Kids @thesuparichkids
DOP: Sara Jordan
Assisting Creative Director & Director: Jennifer Tonndorff @Jennifer_tonndorff
Editing: Sara Jordan
Colorgrading: Yemi Osokoya @yemiosokoya
Choreography: Supa Rich Kids – Oulouy, Yemi Osokoya, Ambrose Tjark, Ordinateur
Stylist: Ambrose Tjark @ambrose_tjark
Poem: Yemi Osokoya
Producer: Sara Jordan
Music: “Kulu” by N´Gou Bagayoko
Production Manager: Marie Pandrup @marie_gumdrop
Assistant Production Manager: Josefine Gheorghe
Picture: @agathe.theshots
The future is a delicate dance of possibilities, where every choice and every moment shapes the path ahead. The fragility of what’s next reminds us to handle it with care, to nurture our dreams and aspirations, and to believe in the limitless potential of tomorrow. Time is a valuable currency.
i am woman
Oregon Artist
A Film by Kailee McMurran
Music & Sound: Duke Stebbins
Coloring: Jasmine vazquez
Additional music mixing: Jonathan Sarenana-Velten
Additional Cast: Lucifer the cat
and the cycle repeats.
Hiphop Purée
Australia
Director: Ryan Renshaw @ryanrenshaw
Executive Producer: Sara Taghaode @taghaode123
Choreography: Jack Lister @_jacklister
Music: Gablé @gable_music
DOP: Danny Haneman @dannyhaneman
Makeup: Emma Louise Downey @emmalouise_makeupartist
Goth: Lilly King @lilzork
E-Girl: Georgina Van Gils / @georgiavangils
Two sisters confront supernatural suburban forces and their own dark secrets on a perilous journey to Thursday night dinner.
SEASONS
Poland
Director: Malgorzata Czyzowska
The main inspiration and organizing principle of the movie are the seasons. In our latitude, we can experience breathtaking springs, sun-wrapped summers, autumns shimmering with different colors and harsh winters. The film has been divided into four corresponding chapters. The common denominator connecting the parts is the figure of a dancer who leads us through the changing seasons. Nature not only determines the rhythm of our lives, but is also an inseparable element of it. The cyclicality of the seasons and the changes that the surrounding landscape undergoes is a metaphor for the ones happening to and in us as well. Therefore, seasons is nothing more than a story about constant metamorphosis, vanishing, letting go, the passing of the old and making room for what new is there to come.
The Meaning of February
Oregon Artist
Cinematographer: Cory Standridge
Original Score: Brady Heinsoo @bradyheinsoo
Performer: Maile Crowder @mailecrowder
Writer: Kat Freya @freyafleurs
The Meaning of February is an experimental short film following a young woman’s journey through loss. Set against the backdrop of a rural farm in winter, the film weaves together dance, poetry, and landscape to explore how grief transforms through the seasons. This film was produced by Peace Tree Collective and created in memory of Ezekiel Sozo Crowder, who passed away at the age of fifteen in February 2021.
Kielo
Finland
Director, Choreographer: Janina Rajakangas @janinarajakangas
Film Director: Sinem Kayacan @sinemkayacan
Lead Performer: Kielo Kivinen @kielonerva
Producer: Zodiak – Center for New Dance @zodiak_helsinki
“Kielo finds it hard to sit still in class. She takes a break venturing into the corridors of her imagination.” The film Kielo touches on the subject of love, support as well as contempt between young people in the school environment, with a focus on the convergence of neurodivergence and sisterhood/peer-hood. “We all have a poetic body, that dances when encouraged. It just needs to be given a chance to exist alongside the body that goes by the rules and is used to shy away from expression.”
One Human Show
United States
Director & Choreographer: Yue Zhu @yuezhu_dance
Producer: Yuan Kuang @kuangfilm
“One Human Show” delves into the essence of life, exploring diverse forms, gender roles, and societal constructs. Through the symbolic cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, the film reflects on equality, transformation, and the interconnectedness of existence. It questions traditional hierarchies, offering a thought-provoking exploration of how cultural customs shape our understanding of life and renewal.
What Remains
Belgium
Director: Michiel Venmans, Jonathan Van Hemelrijck, Zoë Demoustier
Writer: Michiel Venmans, Jonathan Va Hemelrijck, Zoë Demoustier
Producer: Jonathan Van Hemelrijck
A man tries to escape the memories in his head that slowly start shaping his bitter reality.