Zodiak Visions is a collaboration project where filmmakers and choreographers have been invited to come together to create short films honoring the deep-rooted historical ties between the experimental film and performance fields.
Zodiak - Center for New Dance, as the foremost production house for contemporary dance in Finland, presents 8-10 premieres every year. As part of this co-production process, Zodiak puts great attention to the creation of various visual materials for and from these performances.
Many choreographers’ curiosity and generosity to open their work to a different medium as a common thread ignited the application process to seek funding, in order to take these dialogues further and test their practice-based applications.
Eventually this spark resulted in the project titled Zodiak Visions, where filmmakers/visual artists and choreographers have been invited to come together to re-imagine the stage productions; as film.
Following rich discussions regarding the differences and commonalities between the practices of dance on film, dance for film, and dance as film; with respect to the plural suffix in the project title vision-s, outcomes have been manifold, and contemporary in true Zodiak fashion, from genre-bending fantastical thriller to absurdist existential humor. All very strongly honoring the deep-rooted historical ties between the experimental film and performance fields.
Short films; Everything is Right Before (by Jenni-Elina von Bagh and Anna Antsalo), Reddening (by Elina Pirinen and Sinem Kayacan), Jellymama (by Karolina Ginman and Hertta Kiiski), and Kielo (by Janina Rajakangas and Sinem Kayacan)m are the four gems revealed by this process.
The Zodiak Visions project also includes the VR Documentation of Will Funk For Food: A Fistful of Funk, which is not part of the screening but can be viewed through the Second Theatre app on virtual platforms.
Read more about the films on zodiakvisions.com
Kielo, by Janina Rajakangas and Sinem Kaycan was prmiered on NOWNESS on Feruary 28, 2025. Watch Kielo on NOWNESS https://www.nowness.com/series/just-dance/kielo-zodiak-helsinki
Or in YouTube on NOWNESS' channel:
The production partners of Zodiak Visions are PALO Art Productions and Second Theatre.
The project was funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture, as a part of the NextGenerationEU programme of the Europena Union.
