Central Saint Martins Film Screening 2022

On 3 February 2022 at Kings Place, we premiered six brand new films created by students from the Performance Design and Practice course at Central Saint Martins.

Inspired by our Sinfonietta Shorts, students on the course create short films in close collaboration with the composers and players, which are then shown live with their music counterpart.

Film by: Lucia Claus, Xinxin Fan, Jiatong Liu, Meixuan Cheng
Music by Naomi Pinnock, performed by ByronFulcher

A narrative created through a series of improvised hand movement performance, which creates an unsettling feeling. We are using a mix of colour and black and white in the edit and using multiple screens. We are also using repetition and mirroring. In our piece, we will be playing with projections on materials and the body and we will be experimenting with light and shadow. 

Film by: Charles Jimenez, Catarina Dias Silva, Isobel O'Gorman, Stella Rosenkvist, Scarlett Wang
Music by Gavin Higgins, performed by Thomas Gould. Licensed by permission of Nimbus Records

After a mating of keratin, two bodies grieve over a lost third -a child who has been separated from their womb. The three bodies regain connection in a wombic journey, which leads each into layers of their keratin. Each body is bound by their hair, which spiritually networks the three into their eventual fusion of a collective body.

Film by: Farah Esset, Rico Xie, Amber Jiang, Arisa Wang, Vicky Wong
Music by Ed Nesbit, performed by Hebba Benyaghla

An absurdist piece which focuses on dissonant inner conflict and the burdens of individualism on a dancer. They erotic dance for a living and practice ballet. The piece leans into expressionism as an exploration of this and the highs and lows of mania along with the self-destructive inclinations of a mentally ill person. A person who relies on their body.

This film is made to be visually evocative and has symbolism and moments that match the intensity of the music and the two lines represented by the conflicting versions of our character. 

Film by: Minghao Hou, Patryk Sicinski, Theo Ostrin, Yazhuo Liu, Raina Officer, Sara Semino Aceto
Music by Hannah Kendall, performed by Jonathan Morton

A woman, who unknowingly holds a darkness within, finds herself stuck in an endless mundane routine. Spiralling into a limbo state, she ventures through realms of her own subconscious, exploring her primal instincts and unlocking a mysteriously dark side to herself. In a forest under the moon, dark forces lurk and draw the woman through the woodland into the next realm of her ‘superego’. In this state, she is faced with the dilemma of navigating punishment and reward, contrasting circumstances to what came previous. Morality takes centre stage as she faces balancing her impulsive behaviour and restrictive conscious decisions. The choice to continue in an unchanging cycle is one we subconsciously make every day. Will she ever venture beyond the loop?

Film by: Justin Pham, Owen Jenkins, Mihika Bahety, Alice de Crais, Gaïa Debuchy, Edoardo di Lauro
Music by Josephine Stephenson, performed by Tim Gill. Licensed by permission of the Fidelio Trio Winter Chamber Music Festival

An unknown larva emerges from its egg in an icy river and metamorphoses into a beautiful and strange creature. It curiously explores its surroundings and interacts with the new world it has entered as it learns to communicate through movement with other enigmatic creatures that lurk in the darkness. Will this union be fatal?

Film by: Florence Pawley, Esme Solomon, Lily Mckay, Stefan Lin, Morgan Bradbury
Music by Mark Bowden, performed by Simon Haram

We see a creature crouching in the forest. Covered in moss and hair and surrounded by leaves and trees, this is the creature's home. The creature is discovering itself, examining its body meticulously. The TV turns on and the creature crawls towards it, attracted by the light.

We are suddenly sucked into the ad on the TV; a bright, whimsical yet twisted hair salon where society has gone too far with their obsession of the ideal feminine figure. The people there are morphed beyond human recognition and move with great rigidity.

Appalled, the creature launches into a utopian dream, free from society’s pressure. They dance ecstatically and explore their body once more, coming to learn to love themselves for who they are.

We end in the forest again, the creature is home. They are content.