Belfast Films - Turnabout | Matchmake

You can call this event a meeting of two celebrated festivals from two different corners of the world. In a first, the @Belfast International Arts Festival, Northern Ireland’s leading international arts festival dedicated to contemporary performance, media and visual arts collaborates with Attakkalari India Biennial for a special showcase of five dance films that have been made in Ireland and are being screened in India.  From the life and experiences of aging dancers to the politics of Brexit and life during a pandemic, the films tackle a myriad subjects with dance as the common language.

About the films:  Turnabout (16 mins) Turnabout was created in late 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Commissioned from choreographer Jennifer Rooney and composer Elaine Agnew, Turnabout explores hope in a seemingly hopeless time and togetherness in a world of social distancing and mask wearing. The film’s sung text was developed by writer Olive Broderick from workshops with 10- to 11-year-olds in schools across Belfast and recorded by 80 young voices from Belfast Philharmonic Youth and Chamber Choirs.  Matchmake  (40 mins) A series of short films which paired 8 dance artists and 8 artist collaborators during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Each work was created in response to the artist's changing relationship to their internal and external environments during the first pandemic lockdown Matchmake is made up of the following eight films:  Chrysalis by Ryan O'Neill & Conan McIvor; In. At. If by Maeve McGreevy & Tom Hughes; Yellow by Emily McDonagh & Neil Foster; Soul Sleep by Rosie Mullin and Kat Woods; Streams of…by Michael McEvoy and Esther O'Kelly; Going Solo by Vasiliki Stasinaki & Sarah Gordon; Bend In The River by Janie Doherty & Locky Morris; Backbone by Clara Kerr & Jo Guthrie.

Due to music rights restrictions, screening is limited to audiences in India.