The Art of Movement

A sensual and insightful film about three elderly dancers from Budapest.
Irén, Éva and Ágnes - all between 90 and 100 years old - were once part of the early modern dance movement in Hungary.
Taking the role of a dance student and dialogue partner Boglárka retraces how each of the elderly dancers transformed their lives and movement practices in order to survive the major socio-political changes of the last century.
The film takes us into a personal and bodily encounter with three very different personalities and their relation to their past and present. Returning to the stage and performing in their private rooms, Irén, Éva and Ágnes reveal to us an incredible richness of experience stored in their bodies. A choreography of memories.

  • Boglárka Börcsök
    Director
  • Andreas Bolm
    Artistic Collaborator
    JABA, THE SLEEPERS, All the Children But One,
  • Boglárka Börcsök
    Writer
  • Whole Wall Films
    Producer
  • Éva E. Kovács
    Key Cast
    "Éva"
  • Irén Preisich
    Key Cast
    "Irén"
  • Ágnes Roboz
    Key Cast
    "Ágnes"
  • Lisa Rave
    Cinamatography
  • Andreas Bolm
    Editing
  • Boglárka Börcsök
    Editing
  • Jochen Jezzusek
    Sound mixing
  • Elisa Calosi
    Production manager
  • David Robert Evans
    English translation
  • Whole Wall Films
    Production Company
  • Andreas Bolm
    Color and Sound
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour
  • Completion Date:
    May 20, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    54,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Country of Filming:
    Hungary
  • Language:
    German, Hungarian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:09
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Boglárka Börcsök

Boglárka Börcsök (1987, Hungary) is an artist and performer based in Berlin and Budapest. She is working at the crossroads between dance, choreography, film, video and voice work. Her projects depart from personal encounters and the practice of listening and looking. Her works deal with hidden histories, forgotten artists, unseen power-narratives explored through choreographic methods and practices of embodiment.

She studied dance and choreography at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Austria and at P.A.R.T.S. in Belgium. As a performer, she worked with several artists internationally. Previous projects include performances and exhibitions with Kate McIntosh, Ligia Lewis, Tino Seghal, Boris Charmatz and Joachim Koester presented in theaters, galleries and museums worldwide.

In the last years, Börcsök worked in close collaboration with Hungarian choreographer Eszter Salamon. Their latest works are The Valeska Gert Museum and The Valeska Gert Monument within Salamon’s MONUMENT series presented at Centre Pompidou, Kaaitheater, PACT Zollverein, ImPulsTanz Festival, Museu Serralves.

Currently Börcsök is collaborating with German filmmaker Andreas Bolm on several film and performance projects.

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Director Statement

"The first time I came into contact with an aged body was the time I was nursing my grandmother. I visited her often, fed her, and washed her. Seeing and touching her old, naked body moved me and changed the perception of my own young, female body. I began to critically question my own position and work as a young dancer and performer. I became more and more aware of how much the virtuoso and vital body dominated contemporary dance in Europe.

In 2015, I had the chance to meet several elderly dancers in Budapest, all of whom were between 80 and 107 years old at the time. Wanting to work with some of the dancers, and knowing that because of their age I could not bring them onto the stage, or out of their homes, I decided to create a documentary film called The Art of Movement with three of them. Irén Preisich, Éva E. Kovács, and Ágnes Roboz were once part of the avant-garde and modern dance scene in Hungary.
During the shooting my role changed between observer, dialogue partner, and dance student. To stimulate their bodies and memories, I started rehearsing with Irén, Éva, and Ágnes. This physical engagement continued during the film editing. As I watched the film material again and again, I began to study the gestures, movements, and personal stories of the women. The three ladies entered me like ghosts and I began to perform them.

The embodiment of Irén, Éva, and Ágnes is a work of constant becoming and transforming – a Vertigo. The old body contains not only one body. Rather, there are several bodies layered in time and decay, in memories and experiences."

Boglárka Börcsök