All Things Quiet

Kaushik Soubans directs Krish Gunnoo in a dance performance that expresses the frustration of those unheard, and celebrates the freedom of speaking nevertheless.

“Speak and show. Then be heard and seen.”

Whatever struggle mankind may embark upon, it is as much personal and private as it is societal. Each one must fight their own battle, and before they can even hope to be heard, they must first fight against themselves, against the constant appeal of surrendering, of no longer speaking their truth. Though the overwhelming possibility remains that most of us will never be heard, the true failure would be for any of us to stop speaking at all.

In the film, the dance is performed by choreographer Krish Gunnoo in a deserted alley in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius… at night, when there are no passers-by and no audience, no one to snicker nor to appreciate. It is a performance that is being put out there in the world. The decision to go with a freestyle, almost improvisational, dance performance was to channel the intrinsic rawness and plethora of emotions one might feel during a specific struggle or time.

Filmed by Kaushik Soubans, the shots alternate between isolating wides and intimate close-ups to illustrate the dual aspects of needing to speak out and the longing to be heard. As much as the dance is an expression of the self, it is also a performative art that demands to be seen, to be experienced by an observer, and all that is asked is that the observer looks beyond the obvious. Similarly, the accompanying text by Log Pillay is a free verse poetry that was informed by the rhythm of the performance and the music by Mattia Vlad Morleo and Yohann Lim Fat.

Every single element of the film, in style or in substance, serves to further the concept of freedom.