On the Freedom to Move Bodies Under Threat in Urban Spaces
This research and artistic project explores how embodied urban movement, shaped by surveillance, race, gender, and migration, can be translated into a new film grammar through dance and montage.
The project focuses on producing visceral images that convey the embodied experience of moving through urban space under the constant threat of violence, whether from the state or from others, particularly in relation to gender, race, and migrant status. In collaboration with choreographer Jay Pather, these everyday movements are transposed into dance, drawing connections between the historical control of bodies under apartheid in South Africa and contemporary forms of regulation through pervasive camera surveillance.
At ZHdK, in collaboration with Annette BrĂĽtsch, the research centers on experimenting with montage as a means of developing a film grammar that bridges urban movement and choreographic expression. The project also provides an opportunity to explore motion capture techniques, complementing footage filmed in Cape Town and expanding the possibilities for translating embodied experience into cinematic form.