Experiencing Interruptions?

TOGETHERNESS

TOGETHERNESS is a science-fiction dance film that looks into togetherness and loneliness. Covid-19 and the measurements taken because of it have changed our way of being together into a more digital, online and always connected manner.

A paradox emerged of not being (physically) together, but always being available through all the digital platforms. TOGETHERNESS mirrors this digital togetherness with analogue loneliness in an abstract, poetic and visual way.

TOGETHERNESS can be seen as a living photographic work, in which the vision is conveyed through the images and the dance and not the chronology or the text. In a way it is an anthology work that is connected thematically, more so than narratively.

We follow Alexa, a young woman in search of her friends. All of them are spread out in different spaces, as if in alternate dimensions, living inside an abstract, cinematic world. On the opposite side of Alexa is the Creature, a menacing and seemingly always present figure, trying to maintain this separation, stepping in her way of reaching her friends and digitalising them as he meets them.

  • Pieter Desmet
    Director
  • Pieter Desmet
    Writer
  • Pieter Desmet
    Producer
  • Alexa Moya Panksep
    Key Cast
    "Alexa"
  • Machias Bosschaerts
    Key Cast
    "Creature"
  • Daan Jaartsveld
    Key Cast
    "Daan"
  • Júlia Godino Llorens
    Key Cast
    "Julia"
  • Klara Esnerova
    Key Cast
    "Klara"
  • Aki Iwamoto
    Key Cast
    "Aki"
  • Pauline Van Nuffel
    Key Cast
    "Pauline"
  • Meike Stevens
    Key Cast
    "Meike"
  • Margot Masquelier
    Key Cast
    "Oracle"
  • Davide Belotti
    Director of Photography
  • Giel Dhaenens
    First Assistant Camera
  • Jonathan De Maeyer
    Second Assistant Camera
  • Jeroen Heymans
    Boom Operator
  • Tim Coenegrachts
    Boom Operator
  • Jan Van Lindt
    Gaffer
  • RV
    Art Director
  • Samuel Agniel
    Editor
  • Adriaan de Roover
    Composer
  • Yves De Mey
    Sound Mastering
  • Aïda Gabriëls
    Production Manager
  • Annelies Heyrman
    Production Manager
  • The Backyard
    Production
  • Persona
    Co-Production
  • Kokos / Wim Vandekeybus
    Co-Production
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    Sci-Fi, Dance, Experimental
  • Runtime:
    26 minutes 9 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 14, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    16,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Belgium
  • Country of Filming:
    Belgium
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    21:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • De Cinema
    Antwerp
    Belgium
    December 13, 2021
    Internal Screenings
  • Festival In De Maak
    Leuven
    Belgium
    October 22, 2022
    Premiere
  • BYOB
    Gent
    Belgium
    November 19, 2022
Distribution Information
  • Persona
    Distributor
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Pieter Desmet

Pieter Desmet (Belgium, °1996) began his dance training at the Kunsthumaniora in Brussels. As a youngster, he appeared in performances by De Veerman and BRONKS. He continued his dance studies at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp where he graduated in 2018. During his training he danced in choreographies by Iris Bouche, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet, Guy Cassiers & Maud Le Pladec. He followed an internship at Untamed Productions. Since 2022 he started the Photography Course at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (DKO).
 
After his graduation he joined Ultima Vez / Wim Vandekeybus, and has been touring since with the performances TRACES, Hands do not touch your precious Me and Scattered Memories. In addition, he works as a freelance dancer for OESTER / Aïda Gabriëls. He is an active part of the research project in the arts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Character through Coupe, by costume designer Chris Snik. He can be seen in the film installation Dragers by Koen Broos (on view in the exhibition VRACHT at MAS, Antwerp), and in music videos by the electro-pop band Fortress (Darkside and Fortress: the concert film) and the noise-rock band La Jungle (Du sang du singe).
 
Pieter is a guest teacher of contemporary dance technique at several (inter)national dance schools and institutes; Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, Performact in Torres Vedras (PT), the Kunsthumanioras in Brussels and Antwerp and the Royal Ballet School Antwerp. In the 2020-2021 season, he assisted Wim Vandekeybus at Opera Ballet Vlaanderen.
 
For the past two years, he was part of the organizing work group brought together by Platform In De Maak. With this working group, they organized two performing arts festivals in Leuven: the festival that never happened (2021) and PLATEAU22 (2022).
 
Since 2017, Pieter has been researching his own multidisciplinary work with the overarching theme of identity development. In 2019, together with dancer and dance therapist-in-training Steffi Mennen and audiovisual artist Jonathan De Maeyer, he founded the art platform Persona. Within this they collect their individual work and develop and create together within their shared research The Body as Manifestation of Identity.

Add Director Biography