Private Project

Aether

A woman is lying on the floor, it’s dark and cold, she is a hermit or perhaps in exile. A lamp beside her pulsates slowly, up and down, up and down, waking her from a cold, dreamless sleep.
She begins exploring the light – the relationship to it, to the body, the temperature and textures of light. Memories of life.
A shadow appears on the wall, the woman turning to observe it, transfixed, exploring the other self. Because of this play, she doesn’t notice that she’s become trapped in place by
invisible chains.
She struggles, trying to break free, only to eventually collapse onto the floor.
She returns to the lamp, the light blinding.
She holds the lamp up, light, body and shadows moving together.

Aether is a collaboration between Tom Shkolnik (director, film-maker), Florencia Guerberof (choreography and dance) and Guy Harries (sound art).

Supported by University of East London, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and Chisenhale Dance Space.

  • Tom Shkolnik
    Director
    The Women by the Lake, The Comedian
  • Florencia Guerberof
    Choreography and dance
  • Guy Harries
    Music
  • Roy Hamilton-Sturdy
    Title design and animation
  • Project Type:
    Experimental
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 41 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Tom Shkolnik

TOM SHKOLNIK was born in Israel in 1980. In 2002, he moved to London to train as a director at the Drama Centre London. Whilst there, he made his first two shorts, headphones and A picture of me (produced by Barbara Stone). In 2006, he made In The Dark as part of the Coming Up series for Channel 4 (produced by Polly Leys & Kate Norrish) followed by One Happy Moment (produced by Dan McCulloch) made for BFI and BBC Films. His feature debut, The Comedian (produced by The Bureau) premiered at the London Film Festival in 2012 and was nominated for both the Sutherland Award and Best British Newcomer.
In 2022 Tom made The Women by the Lake, the first instalment of the Isolation Trilogy. The second instalment, An Outpost of Progress is in pre-production.

FLORENCIA GUERBEROF is a dancer and visual artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina based in London, UK. In 2007 Florencia was awarded a Scottish Arts Council Grant which enabled her to travel to Japan to study Butoh at Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio among other schools. She founded Asian Performing Arts UK in London in 2013 with the support of Sasakawa Foundation, the Japan Society and Japan 400th. Her Butoh Research Project has been held at SOAS University, RADA and LABAN with guest Japanese artists such as Sankai Juku Company and Tadashi Endo.
She has presented her dance works in London since 2010. In 2019 she collaborated with Guy Harries choreographing and performing in the duet Utopia Dystopia at Gallery 46. Her most recent appearance took place at Resolution Festival 2023, The Place UK, where she premiered her dance trio “Illness reaches its crisis in a dissolving sweat (Part Two). Her international appearances include "Danse Elargie" Dance Festival at Théâtre de la Ville and Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris (2012) and Asian Film Festival at Haus der Kulturen in Berlin (2013).
Currently, Florencia continues to impart her Butoh training in London. She is also undertaking a Masters Degree in Buddhist Studies and Japanese language at The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, UK.
florenciaguerberof.com

GUY HARRIES is an interdisciplinary artist, composer and performer. He has worked extensively as an interdisciplinary artist and produced works in collaboration with dancers-choregraphers including Florencia Guerberof (Utopia Dystopia - Gallery46), Simonetta Alessandri (Tate Modern 2018), Ingvild Marstein Olsen (ICA London 2015) and Claudia Brazzale (UEL 2016) and visual artist Valerie Pezeron (with whom he c0-founded Live Hazard Collective).
He has composed socio-politically engaged opera including Jasser (Netherlands tour 2006/07) and Two Caravans (OperaUpClose Flourish New Opera Prize winner 2012), and investigates the politics of opera making itself through community opera devising workshops in London and an ongoing symposium series at Trinity Laban Conservatoire.
His music releases include solo work and collaborations with the POW Ensemble, Meira Asher and Yumi Hara on the labels X-OR, Sub Rosa and Migro. His latest album titled Light Machine was released on the label Sombre Soniks.  

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