The film begins with an experiment for a dance on camera inspired by a technology with which we're all now spending considerable time, yet takes another path as it absorbs a personal tragedy - the death of my cousin. I invite the audience to join me in a fantasy about life outside, and to consider the fragmented nature of a medium which has become a substitute for connection even during the most precious moments of human experience.

An experimental, movement based short film exploring recovery after trauma, and the push/pull of internal versus environmental recuperation: The event, shock, recuperation, rediscovery of self, dissonance, overwhelm, understanding.

We want to show the power and grace of the/her body, and in parallel the effort and pain. Marion Gautier De Charnacé is a dancer at the Opera de Paris. She embodies this character with her personal brand of visual stamina and musical introspection. We alternate between wide locked shots and extreme close-up ones as emotions change, as glances are cast. We scrutinize her moves, her steps, we detail her slightest tremors. The handheld camera seeks to be as close to her as possible, physically, mentally.. We reached out for abstract framings on her body ,her face, playing with variations of depth of field, motion blurs, ,camera spins. This visual vocabulary is solicited to spark a lyrical abstraction and a sensitive feverishness... The soundtrack is powerful, sometimes harsh,, then suddenly melodious. It accompanies Marion and binds us to her, as she wanders, throughout the piece. The music is mixed with live audio, to emphasize the eeriness of the film. We’re creating accidents, random synchronization shifts, misalignments of the ambient sounds. Sound abstraction emphasizes visual abstraction. 'Otto', the track composed by Woodkid, is continuously present, evolving over time as it describes the emotional arc of the character, drifting from one atmosphere to another, from one setting to the next ... The piece offers a wide variety of rhythms and sounds. This broad musical gamut has been invaluable in underlining and clarifying the variety of emotions ... The duration of the film is 3 minutes and 30 seconds. The piece takes its time to gently sweep you away into a visual and musical world that we sincerely hope you have found captivating...

Every refugee in prison has a unique, compelling story. Each varied story shares one traumatic theme: growing up in the midst of violence brought by war or genocide. Fearing for our lives, we flee our homelands. For years we drifted from camp to camp in foreign countries – I from Cambodia to Thailand, then to the Philippines, my friend, Omu, from South Sudan to Ethiopia then to Kenya – before being resettled in the United States. Omu and I came to America to find freedom. Instead, we find ourselves locked up." Excerpted from Sarith Peou's "Coming to America." In "cage(d)," Sarith tells the story of his experiences as a child and then as a young man during the horror of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge era, his escape as a refugee and his journey to the United States that eventually resulted in him being incarcerated for a serious crime. The narration is underscored and supported by a simple and functional movement structure filmed in one continuous shot until the very end of the piece. This film is the first project to come from an ongoing collaboration between writer Sarith, serving two life sentences at the Stillwater Minnesota Correctional Facility, and choreographer Carl Flink. The two were brought together by the organization We Are All Criminals’ SEEN project (weareallcriminals.org/seen). The recording of Sarith was done during phone calls through the highly monitored prison phone system and can only be 15 minutes in length before automatically disconnecting. Carl and Sarith have never met in person due to covid and prison regulations.

Inspired by a powerful involuntary mania which took hold of citizens in the city of Strasbourg just over 500 years ago, STRASBOURG 1518 is a collaboration in isolation with some of the greatest dancers working today.

dream, a vision told through movement of falling into the COVID reality and dreaming of the moment we emerge back to physical touch as an essential need of our society and humanity. "A Dream . . ." was shot in September 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic when vaccinations seemed distant and performing arts groups were desperately trying to figure out how to get back to work. Carl Flink, artistic director of the Minneapolis based dance company Black Label Movement, approached Dr. Jon Hallberg from the University of Minnesota Medical School and asked if an affordable COVID "bubble," ala the extremely expensive "bubbles" the professional sports leagues were implementing, could be designed to allow for responsible physical contact and removing PPE to create, perform and present new work. Hallberg said he thought there was and designed an affordable "bubble" that allowed Black Label to produce this film without anyone involved contracting the COVID virus.