Experiencing Interruptions?

Waiting to Connect

Anna is a Canadian filmmaker visiting Porto, Portugal for a work project. She has a week to spare before her assignment begins when she meets a Francisco through Tinder. After a whirlwind discovery of Porto, Anna learns that the Canadian Decentralized Dance Party is hosting an event. Anna dances between digital and physical networks falling deeply in love with the city, and maybe Francisco.

  • Michael B MacDonald
    Director
    john wort hannam is a poor man, WE'RE TOO LOUD, Pimachihowan
  • Michael B MacDonald
    Writer
  • Anna Kuelken
    Writer
  • Francisco Fonseca
    Writer
  • Anna Kuelken
    Key Cast
    "Anna"
  • Francisco Fonseca
    Key Cast
    "Francisco"
  • Decentralized Dance Party
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    28 minutes 22 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 31, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    4,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Portugal
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Michael B MacDonald

Michael B. MacDonald, PhD is a cinemusicologist and associate professor of music in the faculty of Fine Arts and Communications at MacEwan University where he researches ethnomusicological film methods and DIY music cultures. As a filmmaker, he has made numerous films about musicians and music communities in western Canada, including John Wort Hannam is a Poor Man, and WE’RE TOO LOUD. Michael is also the author of two books: “Playing for Change: music festivals as arts-based community learning and development” (Peter Lang) and “Remix and Life Hack in HipHop” (Sense). Involved internationally, Michael is an active member of the International Council for Traditional Music study group for Audiovisual Ethnomusicology. He is currently working on a book titled “Cinema Musicalité: a Deleuzian encounter with the music films of Les Blank”.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Waiting to Connect is about reaching out. It’s a story about technology and connection, whether we’re keeping in touch with family and friends or listening to music. The film is a comparison, originally titled Annalogy, between human networks created at physical distance and human networks created by physical presence. The film is an ethnofiction made in the style of Jean Rouch’s participatory anthropology infused with Albert Piette’s approach to existential anthropology. The film uses an improvisation approach to the dramatic action and then concludes using music video aesthetics to follow Anna and Francisco through a full night of the Decentralized Dance Party in Porto, Portugal. While a great deal is made of the negative impact that communications technology has on a community, this film tells another story, one overflowing with connections, and people and things waiting for connections. Whether the connections are formed is up to the viewer.