from Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 July
Zafferana Etnea Public Park (CT)
From 4:30 PM to 11:00 PM
ZED FESTIVAL 2024 SELECTION
A selection of 360° VR dance films presented at ZED Festival in 2024. A fascinating journey through three films that, with very different perspectives, techniques, and strategies, explore how dance can be experienced through the immersive technology of VR headsets. For the audience, it’s a unique opportunity to live the choreographic work from unexpected points of view, where time, space, intimacy, and proximity become deeply personal and subjective dimensions. Since 2020, ZED – International Dance Film Festival has been collecting and showcasing the best international dance film productions conceived exclusively for VR headsets.
A selection of 360° VR dance films presented at ZED Festival in 2024. A fascinating journey through three films that, with very different perspectives, techniques, and strategies, explore how dance can be experienced through the immersive technology of VR headsets. For the audience, it’s a unique opportunity to live the choreographic work from unexpected points of view, where time, space, intimacy, and proximity become deeply personal and subjective dimensions. Since 2020, ZED – International Dance Film Festival has been collecting and showcasing the best international dance film productions conceived exclusively for VR headsets.
by Dominic Allen
Australia, 2018, length: 14’22”
An exhilarating and visceral film that tells the expansive story of Carriberrie – dance, song and music in Aboriginal culture. Beginning in the heart of the country at Uluru, actor and performer David Gulpilil guides us across Australia in a concentric, snake-like journey through time and space. We journey through traditional ceremonial dance and song, towards intrinsically contemporary and modern expressions. Intimate, immersive and breath-taking, this documentary showcases a stunning range of Australian locations and performances. From iconic ceremonial traditional dance in Uluru, through rain making and funeral songs in the desert before culminating in a contemporary dance performance from Australia’s Indigenous performing company, Bangarra Dance.
An exhilarating and visceral film that tells the expansive story of Carriberrie – dance, song and music in Aboriginal culture. Beginning in the heart of the country at Uluru, actor and performer David Gulpilil guides us across Australia in a concentric, snake-like journey through time and space. We journey through traditional ceremonial dance and song, towards intrinsically contemporary and modern expressions. Intimate, immersive and breath-taking, this documentary showcases a stunning range of Australian locations and performances. From iconic ceremonial traditional dance in Uluru, through rain making and funeral songs in the desert before culminating in a contemporary dance performance from Australia’s Indigenous performing company, Bangarra Dance.
Directed by: Dominic Allen
Cultural Advisor: Annette Puruta Wayawu Kogolo
Screenplay: Tara June Winch
Narration: David Gulpilil, Jack Charles
Dominic Allen is an award-winning Australian director and producer whose work spans short and feature films, music videos, commercials, virtual reality, and television documentaries. With a background in fine arts and a strong commitment to social justice, Dominic began his filmmaking journey through documentaries focused on fair trade, migration issues, and contemporary Indigenous Australian culture. His work with migrants led him to collaborate with Sudanese rapper Bangs, resulting in the viral hit Take You To The Movies (20 million views). His documentary collaboration with the Aboriginal youth organisation Yiriman in the Kimberley region inspired him to write and direct the short film Two Men, a finalist for the Dendy Best Australian Short Award. The film was screened internationally to great acclaim and earned Dominic both the MIFF Australian Emerging Filmmaker Award (2009) and the Inside Film Rising Talent Prize. In 2011, Dominic produced the Tribeca Award-winning feature film Grey Matter with Rwandan director Kivu Ruhorahoza.
by Lucy Walker
USA/Cuba, 2019, length: 8’03’’
The organic, spontaneous, and sexy dances progress chronologically from the Afro-Cuban rumba of Santería through mambo, cha-cha-chá, salsa, breakdance, and reggaeton. Cuba’s broader history is revealed through movement.
Tangible and immersive, this live-action VR documentary was shot on location in Cuba and features the Ballet de la Televisión Cubana.
The organic, spontaneous, and sexy dances progress chronologically from the Afro-Cuban rumba of Santería through mambo, cha-cha-chá, salsa, breakdance, and reggaeton. Cuba’s broader history is revealed through movement.
Tangible and immersive, this live-action VR documentary was shot on location in Cuba and features the Ballet de la Televisión Cubana.
Directed and written by: Lucy Walker
Cast: Ballet de la Televisión Cubana, Danza Abierta, Ana Maria Albernal, Luis Aspirina, Mario R. Garcia, Aniela Gonzalez, Juan Carlos Zaldívar
Lucy Walker is an Emmy-winning and two-time Oscar-nominated director whose films have won over a hundred awards. She is renowned for crafting compelling narrative documentaries. Dubbed ‘the new Errol Morris’ by The Hollywood Reporter, she has been praised by Variety for her unique talent in creating ‘nonfiction that connects with audiences.’ Her latest documentary, Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, won the People’s Choice Audience Award at TIFF and was acquired by Netflix for distribution in 2024. Also set for release in 2024 is Of Night and Light, which premiered at Tribeca in 2023. Her previous feature documentaries include Bring Your Own Brigade (Top 5 Film of 2021), Buena Vista Social Club: Adios (2017), The Crash Reel (2013), the Oscar- and DGA-nominated Waste Land (2010), Countdown to Zero (2010), the Berlinale-winning Blindsight (2006), and Devil’s Playground (2002), nominated for multiple Emmys and an Independent Spirit Award. She has also created acclaimed series, including the Emmy-winning Defying Gravity: The Untold Story of Women’s Gymnastics (2020), and directed twenty episodes of Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues (1999–2002), earning two Emmy nominations for direction. She has received several Clio and Cannes Lions awards for her advertising work. Her notable short documentaries include the Emmy-nominated The Lion’s Mouth Opens (2014), David Hockney In The Now commissioned by LACMA (2012), and the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (2011). For Netflix, she directed and executive produced the Emmy-nominated series How To Change Your Mind (2022), executive produced Ram Dass, Going Home (2018), and produced Why Did You Kill Me? (2021).
by JC Olivera, Alice Poppe
Brasil, 2024, length: 9’42’’
When the heart stops beating, there are still 200 seconds of consciousness before death. What would you do if you could meet yourself at different moments of your life during those final 200 seconds?
‘200’ is an immersive dance experience about time, memory, life, and death.
When the heart stops beating, there are still 200 seconds of consciousness before death. What would you do if you could meet yourself at different moments of your life during those final 200 seconds?
‘200’ is an immersive dance experience about time, memory, life, and death.
Directed by: JC Oliveira & Alice Poppe
Written by: JC Oliveira & Alice Poppe
Produced by: Igor Veloso
Lead Cast: Alice Poppe
Cinematography: Alberto Moura, Eduardo Martino
Costume Design: Nívea Faso
Music and Sound Design: Gustavo Loureiro
Editing: JC Oliveira
Graphic & Motion Design: Rogerio Costa
Colour Grading: Glauco Guigon
Alice Poppe is a dancer, researcher, and collaborator in contemporary dance creation processes. Interested in interdisciplinary dialogue, she explores the poetic-political relationships between body, earth, weight, gravity, and falling, through a hybrid lens of gesture and thought.
JC Oliveira is a director from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with experience in cinema, television, and virtual reality (VR). His work ranges from straightforward documentaries and fiction films—screened at festivals around the world—to experimental projects that blur the boundaries between cinema, digital art, and immersive experiences.
The selection is curated by ZED FESTIVAL Bologna in collaboration with COORPI Torino and CRO.ME – Cronaca e Memoria dello Spettacolo Milano, as part of the project PRO|D|ES Danza – Promozione Digitale Danza Estesa.
