PLASTISCH
Plastic delivers many advantages. It is practical, robust, reliable and cheap. There is just one problem: it does not decompose. Most of our plastic items cannot be recycled and end up as litter on beaches or as plastic soup in the ocean. This ‘fantastic’ product is choking our world.
Yet we continue to cling desperately to all the plastic products that are supposed to enrich our lives – products that we often use for only a short time, and which have become a symbol of our throwaway society. We also associate plastic with the malleability of our lives and the associated beauty ideal. Plastic fantastic is the goal: smooth, tight and young. Increasingly we are plasticising the world and ourselves.
Beautiful and ugly, useful and destructive – these are extremes that come together in the dance film PLASTISCH. Four dancers embody the lifecycle and contradictory properties of plastic. To what extent is everything malleable, mouldable and controllable? And at what cost?
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DansBlokWriter
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DansBlokDirector
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Jilles van KleefCinematography & edit
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Enrico MeijerComposition & sound design
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DansBlokProducer
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Rosa AllessieKey Cast
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Éryn NieuwintKey Cast
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Dieuwertje SpekKey Cast
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Tessa WoutersKey Cast
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Museum De LakenhalSupported by
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Theater Ins BlauSupported by
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Gemeente LeidenSupported by
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Wobine BoschIn association with
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Sterrenbad WassenaarIn association with
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Plastic Recycling CompanyIn association with
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ArtHub LeidenIn association with
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Project Title (Original Language):PLASTISCH
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Project Type:Other
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Runtime:7 minutes 35 seconds
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Completion Date:October 14, 2021
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Production Budget:10,900 USD
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Country of Origin:Netherlands
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Country of Filming:Netherlands
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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If Things Grow WrongLeiden
Netherlands
October 14, 2021
Dutch premier
DansBlok is a dance collective based in Leiden (the Netherlands), working together since 2019, consisting of Rosa Allessie, Éryn Nieuwint, Dieuwertje Spek and Tessa Wouters. The collective creates both dance performances as well as dance films. The productions they create are inspired by the problems of our modern day society, using themes that speak to them as young adults and women.
In 2019 DansBlok created their first dance film 'FLOW', a collaboration with Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden, which was screened at De Kunstroute. Their next production was the performance 'OVER & OVER', about escapism, the clubscene and the different sensations you can experience in the nightlife. This work premiered in Theater Ins Blau, July 11th 2020. In summer 2020 their next dancefilm 'Center Point' was produced. This film was screened online and live at Festival Wat Nu?. In September 2020 DansBlok created the dance film 'Revelation' for that years Stevin and Spinoza-award ceremony, recorded at the Koninklijke Schouwburg The Hague. It was screened online and at Kunstroute 2021. In spring 2021 their next work 'PLASTISCH' was created as a theater production (premier June 27th 2021, FAT festival) as well as a dance film (premier October 14th). 'PLASTISCH' in film was screened at various international film festivals; winner Best Short Film at Covent Garden Film Festival (England), Best New Dutch Shorts at Cinedans (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), finalist at Vesuvius International Film Fest 2022 (Italy), Dance on Screen Filmfestival (Austria), Fifth Wall Fest (The Philippines), European Science in the City Festival (Leiden, the Netherlands), Spring Dancefilm Festival Barcelona (Spain). It was also part of the exhibition 'If Things Grow Wrong' at Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden for 8 months. In the summer of 2023 DansBlok toured their duet FRAME around the Netherlands.
Their newest dance film 'ZWEET (SWEAT)' premiered February 21th 2023. ZWEET won Best Short Dance Movie at the Vesuvius International Film Festival (Italy) and was screened at Lowlands Festival, Zomerparkfeest, Dare Dance Festival (Greece), Exeter Dance International Film Festival 2023 and Midnight Masquerade.