Experiencing Interruptions?

A Torch in the Machine

In a post-apocalyptic near-future, two women, trapped underground since their lives began, are thrown together after the unexpected destruction of their community’s bunker. When the world above begins to seep in through the cracks and air shafts, they realize this moment in time is perhaps their only opportunity to escape up and out into the great unknown of the outside world. Unfamiliar with the experiences of space, physical touch, autonomy, possibility, and freedom, the women embark on a journey of courage to push beyond the boundaries of concrete, captivity, and the status quo in search of a truth that lies beyond. Within the harsh environment of the parched desert outer world, can they find both a reason and the strength to press on together? And, is there anyone else left?

Raising questions about where humanity is headed and the consequences our planet is hurtling towards, A Torch in the Machine is a women-led project grappling with the unknowns of the future.

Originally inspired by E.M. Forster’s 1909 short story The Machine Stops.

  • Janessa Clark
    Director
    Future Becomes Past, COMMUNION, I : I
  • Rosalynde LeBlanc
    Key Cast
  • Colleen Thomas
    Key Cast
  • Wandering Camille Films
    Producer
  • Mary Trunk
    Cinematographer
  • Janessa Clark
    Assistant Camera Operator
  • Stephanie Liapis
    Assistant Camera Operator
  • Janelle Little
    Assistant Camera Operator
  • Anne Müller
    Composer
  • Kathleen Kelley
    Editor
  • Mary Trunk
    Assistant Editor
  • Kathleen Kelley
    Color Correction
  • Anne Müller
    Sound Mixer
  • Andrea Zittel
    Desert Wagon Station Encampment & Land Artist
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Dance, sci-fi, movement, dancefilm
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Janessa Clark

Janessa Clark (American/Swedish) is a BESSIE award nominated choreographer, dance filmmaker, and installation artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her practice combines dance, video, and language to create socially-engaged art for stage, screen, and community-specific environments.

She holds an MA in Performance Practices and Research from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London and a BFA in Choreography from Arizona State University. She founded and directed the New York City-based dance collective, Janessa Clark/KILTERBOX, from 2001-2012 and in 2012 dissolved KILTERBOX to form nomadthenewcompany, which worked from Stockholm 2012-2018.

At the heart of Janessa’s work is the desire to challenge and rupture modes of choreography and spectatorship through co-authorship and experiential agency. Her films and live works have been presented widely over the past 15 years including at HERE Arts Center, Danspace Project, Dixon Place, Teatro Victoria (Canary Islands), the Vitruvian Thing (Greece), SDVIG (Russia), Danscentrum (Sweden), and the Jakarta Dance Festival. Janessa has also created new work at residencies through Brooklyn Arts Exchange, CEC ArtsLink in St. Petersburg, Exploring the Metropolis at Jamaica Arts Center, and at THE VISIONARY in upstate New York.

Her 2018 film 'Future Becomes Past' toured extensively internationally as did her 2021 work, | : |, a commission from Attack Theatre in Pittsburgh. Her 2021 BESSIE-nominated video art project, Communion, a response to the Covid-19 crisis, has screened in at the Barry Art Museum in Norfolk, VA, the Soundance Festival in Berlin, HERE Arts Center in New York as a three-week in-person installation, American Dance Festival’s Movies by Movers, and at the Bates Dance Festival. Recently, she co-directed and choreographed the 2022 Music Video 'Eyes See Stars' for the band Mice Parade and opened an exhibition of her ongoing multimedia installation 'The Tiny Dances Project' in Cambridge, MA and in Los Angeles. Her newest film A Torch in the Machine (2024) is her most ambitious to date and is in the early stages of being adapted as augmented reality piece.

Janessa is on the Theater Arts faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology teaching various dance forms including 'Dancing with Cameras'.

Add Director Biography