AMSTERDAM TOUCH / REMOTE
Amsterdam Touch / Remote (17'20) is an experimental film in which a dancer (Jori Meijer), a percussionist (Bart Fermie) and a camerawoman (Miranda van der Spek) are inspired by
the changing city of Amsterdam in corona-times.
The film is an atmospheric walk through the city with hypnotic images, dancing movements, rhythms and sounds: a cine-dance-rhythm-trance. Amsterdam is the setting and the space where the sounds resonate. The scenes in the film were shot in various improvisation sessions during the corona crisis, from the first lockdown in March 2020 to the cautiously reopened city in June 2021.
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Miranda van der SpekDirector
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Stichting CineMusicaProducer
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Jori MeijerKey Cast
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Bart FermieKey Cast
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Project Type:Experimental
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Runtime:17 minutes 20 seconds
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Completion Date:September 3, 2021
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Production Budget:16,500 EUR
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Country of Origin:Netherlands
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Country of Filming:Netherlands
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital HD and 4K
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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Premiere PosthoornkerkAmsterdam
Netherlands
September 3, 2021
Dutch premiere -
West Beach Film FestivalAmsterdam
Netherlands
September 19, 2021
Curriculum Vitae - Miranda van der Spek
Date of birth: 22 - 7 - 1962 Dutch nationality
Education
University of Amsterdam (UvA): political, social and cultural sciences: visual anthropology, specialization: music and Latin America
Master modules:
Cultural anthropology, audiovisual communication, visual anthropology
Thesis: ‘paper’ and film: “The Devil’s Horn”, about the role of music bands in the patron saint festivities in the Bolivian highlands
Since 1994, Miranda van der Spek works as a visual anthropologist, an independent filmmaker and musician (tubaplayer). She makes documentaries, experimental films, video-clips and video recordings of music and theatre performances for museums, non-profit organizations, government agencies and cultural institutions. Since the last years Mirandas is also involved in making video- poetry performances with live interaction between music and image. Besides Mirandas also develops cross-cultural educational projects about film and music for schools.
Specializations: ethnomusicology, cultural diversity, Afrika and Latin America. Clients include Tropical Museum of Amsterdam, Ethnographic Museum of Leiden, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ for Contemporary Music, KNAW/University, ILAM, Rhodes University Grahamstown. Films have been shown at festivals and in prominent museums and were broadcasted by the NPS, WDR, Arte and by provincial broadcasters.
My aim is cross-cultural storytelling. Stories that touch, inspire or hold a mirror. I try to use the power of music and film to connect people from different cultures.
I am the author of films such as Worth Repeating, about music of the Ouldémé in Cameroun, made as openings film of the World Minimal Music Festival in Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ of Amsterdam and Traveling Music, three documentaries about the accordion, the ukelele and brass instruments, made for the exhibition Music World, Tropical Museum, Amsterdam.
For me the whole process of filming and editing - the choice of point of views, what to show or what to leave out of the image, locations, the persons you choose in the picture - , is about finding congruency between, music, image, and the (symbolic) value of the music in its environment. To achieve that I have to dive into the culture, participate, become a part of the scenery without interfering in what happens, but moving organically along with all what happens, to the point of becoming almost invisible. Call it a cine-trance. In the editing I try to hold on to the rhythm and pace I feel in the place to depict. The rhythm of a film is very important to me.
The last years I am more devoted to making experimental films. But still in a cine-trance-like way. Moving along with the subjects to film and trying to feel the rhythm of the movie. I enjoy a lot this improvisations.