Norsk Festival for Dans Og Film 2012

[Deirdre Towers]

"We drank wine, watched porno films, danced as though we were dancing contact improv or working for Forsythe, Kylian, Anne Teresa de Keersmaker, " said the charismatic dancer Jordi Cortes Molina about his collaboration with Daniel Munoz in the making of COUP DE GRACE based on two men whose friendship was brought to an abrupt stop - only to be tested again after 40 years. "We tried everything to get to all the layers of the friendship of these two men with their long long history together. Every day, we'd improvise, sometimes for 3 hours straight, continuing until one of us called to stop."

Molina was a font of information and insight about the challenge of making dance films in our Artists Chat, here in the charming city of Haugesund, pop. 25,000, in the Norsk Festival for Dans og Film. Now in its third year, this dance film festival has the distinction of being developed with the support, from its inception, with The Norwegian International Film Festival now in its 40th year. Anne Jorunn Salhus and Rikke W Lie started their Dans Og Film Festival in 2010, but sadly Anne passed that year. The screenings were primarily on the 4 screens of Edda Kino as well as the Maritim Hotel. This year's festival had the distinction of presenting 4 Norwegian premieres with the opening film being KON TIKI.

 

The screening in Haugesund of COUP DE GRACE directed by Clara van Gool, shown at Dance on Camera Festival 2012 in NYC, was a highlight of Dans Og Film, along with the screening of other old favorites such as HORIZON OF EXILE, ONE FLAT THING RE-PRODUCED, and a new short involving a staggering about of post-production from USA,  SOLIPSIST by Andrew Thomas Huang, noted by Creativity Magazine as a Director to Watch. Jordi revealed how close he was to Clara van Gool, with whom he had made 6 films. When he worked for DV8, he made 2 films with David Hinton, STRANGE FISH and TOUCHED. Quite relaxed and warm in person, Jordi often appears imperious and domineering on screen. He confided that he had to learn to do much less for the camera and slow everything down. He currently is fascinated by the idea of body memory, exploring fossils as a catalyst for a new project. He begins in September to direct a documentary in Barcelona about his work with the disabled.

Dans og Film Festival ran August 19-21, 2012, offering screenings, 4 day workshop with Peter Jasko and Milan Herich from the Brüssels based Les Slovaks dance collective, artists chat, and the lecture/screening of my "100 Years of Dance on Camera."

For more information, see http://www.nf-df.no