Experiencing Interruptions?

Battle of Gaman

In the Battle of Gaman, you carry your demons on your back. It is a place between realities where you will do anything to take back control. Set in an art exhibition space, coloured with kabuki, tigers, and sequinned bikinis. This film is reminiscence of the theatre of the unexpected, as it queers’ discourse and bends time.

  • Auryn Rotten
    Director
  • Auryn Rotten
    Producer
  • Marie Werrett
    Key Cast
    "Exhibition Goer"
  • Michelle Keating
    Key Cast
    "Gallery Attendant"
  • Ingrid Dieckmann
    Key Cast
    "Doppel"
  • Auryn Rotten
    Key Cast
  • Joaquim Bel Pellicer
    Cinematographer
  • Nate Martin
    Cinematographer
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Underground
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 25, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    9,000 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED and C300
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - SAE Institute
  • LA Underground Film Forum (LAUFF)
    Los Angeles
    United States
    July 9, 2022
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Sydney Underground Film Festival
    Sydney
    Australia
    September 10, 2022
    National Premiere
    Homebaked, Runners Up Audience Choice
  • FilmHaus Berlin
    Berlin
    Germany
    November 25, 2022
    Online program
    Finalist
  • Seattle Film Festival
    Seattle
    United States
    September 30, 2022
    Online program
    Nominee
  • Indie Filmmaker Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    December 30, 2022
    Winner 'Best Student Director'
  • Independent Shorts Awards
    Los Angeles
    United States
    November 20, 2021
    'Gold - Experimental', 'Honourable Mention - Director', 'Bronze - Sound Design'
Director Biography - Auryn Rotten

Auryn Rotten is a Director-Producer based in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia. She has recently completed her Master of Creative Industries with SAE Qantm by submission of the film, Battle of Gaman, and accompanying exegesis in performance autoethnographic research. Her films are designed as experiences that blur the lines between artist, audience and artwork. Following an exploration of intersubjectivity throughout her work. Auryn creatively produces under the name, Chic.Xu.Lub, where she will continue to develop her projects in exhibition spaces, and in arthouse and queer cinema.

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Director Statement

This is a film about an internal battle, a waging of war with yourself. It depicts a long journey of a slow death: a visualisation of life after sexual trauma, a desire for a path through the pain. It speaks to the ambivalent nature of self-harm, as punishment, as catharsis, as moralistically reprehensible to outsiders - until you are inside the nightmare looking out. As such, Battle of Gaman artistically explores trauma-informed coping mechanisms as a means of critiquing the dominant pathologising discourses of self-harm. This film intends to contribute to a critical counter-discourses around the potential of self-harm as a relief-seeking practice, one that should be able to be talked about without the shadow of pathologising shame. The value of this work is in its ability to empathise with people’s internal battles, while identifying that they are also happening out of sight. By bringing this subject matter to the screen, this work aims to prompt dialogue in shared experiences.