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EQUILIBRE (english sub)

Daria, a young dancer, leads a double life between a neo-classical dance company and a clandestine night club. The mysterious disappearance of one of the troupe dancers opens an investigation. In the club, Daria witnesses the abuse of customers including those of Menza, a gangster hanging around the place. Daria will invite him to her home for a private dance and reveal the secret of the disappearance of her colleague ..

  • PAT LAFELINE, DARIA PANCHENKO
    Director
  • PAT LAFELINE
    Writer
  • FRANCK BAILLLEUL
    Producer
  • DARIA PANCHENKO
    Key Cast
    "DARIA"
  • CHRISTOPHE FLUDER
    Key Cast
    "CHRISTOPHE"
  • MENZA BAHRI
    Key Cast
    "MENZA"
  • PAT LA FELINE
    Key Cast
    "PAT"
  • Project Type:
    Feature, Short
  • Genres:
    Fiction, Thriller, Noir
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 7, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    France
  • Country of Filming:
    France
  • Language:
    French
  • Shooting Format:
    digital 4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:39
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - PAT LAFELINE, DARIA PANCHENKO

PAT LA FELINE ( boss of the nightclub )
35 years of musical and cinema culture. Specialty: alternative culture and rock'n'roll.

Fan of genre films since "The Island of Dr.Moreau" of Don Taylor seen in a movie theatre in 77, my film references you will find in italian "giallo" of Dario Argento and Mario Bava, "Peeping Tom" of Michael Powell, "The Dangerous Game" of Abel Ferrara or more recent creations of Pascal Laugier and it's unbearable "Martyrs" and "Carne" of Gaspar Noé. But certainly nothing of this would of exist without the fabulous "I Walked with a Zombie" and "La Féline" of the inventor of genre Jacques Tourneur as to me.

Actor, witness and a fan of Parisian nightlife, I will film my world in a raw, realistic and quirky way where Lux Interior of Cramps will bump into a ballerina of a fragile appearance and full of surprises of the shady past.

DARIA PANCHENKO ( leading actress )

Originally from Kiev, Ukraine, I studied in the Ukrainian Ballet Academy and then in the National Linguistic University parallel to my work in a dance company. I came to France at the age of 19 to study cinema and I obtained my Master's Degree in Cinema Direction at the University Paris 8 after which I produced and directed a fantastic film called Mille feuilles" ( 24min) that did a couple of nice festivals. https://vimeo.com/97100056
In parallel to my cinema education I was studying acting in an old French theatre school Cours Simon before leaving for a couple of years to continue training and work in the Russian Theatre Academy of Saint Petersburg and Lee Strasberg Film and Theatre Institute in New York.

Back to France I work as an actress, dancer, choreographer on screen and on stage. A producer Eric Atlan offers me my first leading part in a fantastic feature film called "Mortem" that has a nice career in festivals around the world.

Separately to my acting and dancing career I try to enrich my set experience as much as possible and I work in different film crews holding different positions as an assistant of director, of director of production, of script supervisor, of art director, of props master, of casting director. Most of the projects were French and Russian coproductions ( « Le Concert » of Radu Mihaileanu, « Raspoutine » of Josée Dayan, « Ivan Poddubny » of Gleb Orlov etc).

Our short film "Équilibre" unites for the first time my 4 skills and aspirations : those of a dancer, of a choreographer, of an actress and of a director.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The project was born out of a common desire to make a genre film uniting two worlds of our backgrounds - dance and nightlife.

The story revolves around Daria, a dancer of a Slavic origin. We don't know much about her background except for her predisposition for a classical dance, her discipline and thoroughness that she exercises during the day in a ballet company in a total opposition to her nightlife in a clandestine club. She is appreciated for her investment and professionalism at work. Despite of not being very sociable, she stays attentive and caring to the others.
Daria has a secret that will be revealed in the end of the film giving a viewer a possibility to imagine the sequel of the story as well as it's roots.
A charming but cold character, she leads a double life nourishing herself from the annoyances of the others. She feels herself invested with a mission to do her own justice by eliminating drastically whatever burdens.
Being inspired by the films like "Chromosome 3" of David Cronenberg "The hunger" of Tony Scott " The Wisdom of Crocodiles " of Po-Chih Leong, the duality of the character will be also introduced by the difference of ambiances: dark at her work in her everyday life and all white at her home like a personal purgatory.
The human body takes a central place in the film. First we observe it's effort , construction, rigor and precision during the dance rehearsal. Later - it's abandon and sexual power in the nightclub up till the body's final destruction in the end of the film.
The story will be amplified by the music always intradiegetic which will evolve depending of the universe the main character would go through.

We would like to invite you to this journey of life and death within a 16 min story that we hope to develop into a feature one day.