Private Project

Compass in Hand

Compass in Hand is a 9min cinematic-sonic experience which departed from the perspective that “I was born in a wasteland of other peoples’ dreams” - aka the paradigm of the neo-liberal cis-het white supremacy patriarchy. Through processes of re-mythologisation, performance, ritual and the blurring of the medical and other realms within the pluriversal existence, Compass in Hand is the acknowledgment and reclaiming of agency and epistemology of the survivor, the neurodivergent, & the trans beings within the spiral of time.

  • Josie Alexandra
    Director
  • Joli Broadman
    DOP | Co-Director | Lighting | Colour Grading
  • Will Hamilton Coates
    Photographer | Cameraman
  • Dimitris Kavallieratos
    Photographer | Cameraman
  • John McGarity
    Photographer | Cameraman
  • Tiffany Walling McGarity
    Photographer | Cameraman
  • Josie Alexandra
    Writer
  • Josie Alexandra
    Producer
  • Mattie Martha-Sempert
    Key Cast
    "Elder Transmitter-Acupuncturist-Bay Leave Extractor"
  • Jarryd Harvey
    Key Cast
    "Younger Transmuter-Acupuncturist"
  • Mikael Eyayaw
    Key Cast
    "Spirit / Ghost"
  • Josie Alexandra
    Key Cast
    "ersona’s of Transmutees’ & Circe & Baby Stalagmite"
  • Josie Alexandra
    Sound Design
  • Guy Louis Faletolu
    Sound Engineer
  • Eve Maxwell
    Stylist
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Music Video, Short
  • Genres:
    Sci-Fi, Surrealism Autobiography
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    June 23, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    47,551 AUD
  • Country of Origin:
    Australia
  • Country of Filming:
    Australia
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Randfilmfest
    Kassel, Hessia 34117
    September 21, 2023
Director Biography - Josie Alexandra

Josie Alexandra is an experimental multi-dimensional artist, fascinated by the potential of intra-personal relationships as sites for reclamation and transformation in world-making processes. Their work offers critiques and envisionings to plausible futurisms [for trans and neurodiverse communities and beyond] in the current global crisis.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Compass in Hand, was made possible with support from the Australian Government through the Australia Council, Creative Victoria - Music Works, and the Ian Potter Cultural Trust.

Compass in Hand is a 9-minute experimental cinematic and sonic creation that explores rebirth and transformation from multiple dimensions and spans across different time zones. One of these time zones is a 'Witchy Deep Past-Future,' where the character Circe conducts transformations from the invisible island of Aeaea in the Mediterranean. Then, there is 'The Future-Present,' which involves a ritualistic performance of a Chinese Medical session and a re-mythologisation of Daphne’s story. In this time zone, the set was constructed by reimagining Leonora Carrington's 1960 painting Adieu Ammenotep.

During the processes of acupuncture needling and Daphne’s bay leaf extraction the film introduces yet another time zone, 'The Spiritual Present,' here the main actor is bound in rope on the medical table and draped in gold fabric performing in an ancient cave filled with stalagmites. The ritual, choreographed movements in this time zone locations highlight the un-bounding of stagnation that one goes through whilst transforming.

The central themes in this work are rebirth transformations; the many narratives that need rewriting when reconstructing one's identity. It departs from the narrative of being born within a framework of other people's dreams, aka the neo-liberal cis-het white supremacy patriarchy. Through a combination of re-mythologization, performance, ritual, and the blending of medical and other realms within a pluralistic existence, 'Compass in Hand' represents an acknowledgment and reclamation of agency and knowledge for survivors, neurodivergent individuals, and transgender beings within the spiral of time.

The installation will also be accompanied with a booklet of 30-40 A3 pages which will include photographs of the filming process and give more in-depth discussion into key elements of the work, including writings on: Circe: A Re-mythologisation performance; the Temporalities within Compass in Hand and a Letter to Mikael (my nephew who acts in the film).