FILM DESCRIPTIONS
TERRAIN (2006)
Terrain is a site-specific dance film shot on location in rural Wisconsin. Each vignette is created in and of the landscape and speaks to metaphors of the senses, relationships, and the changing of the seasons. Emmy nominated Director Douglas Rosenberg with Gemini nominated Director Allen Kaeja awaken our visual senses in their first film collaboration together.
Terrain features choreography and performances by acclaimed contemporary dance artists from North America including Karen Kaeja, Li Chiao-Ping, Allen Kaeja, David Dorfman, and Heidi Latsky. It is among the first high definition dance films shot in North America.
Directors Douglas Rosenberg and Allen Kaeja Featured Choreographer/Performers Karen Kaeja, Li Chiao-Ping, Allen Kaeja, David Dorfman, Lisa Race Additional Choreography/Performers Ken James, Cynthia Adams, Jolene Bailie, Heidi Latsky, Susan Lee, Tim Spronk, Tania Isaac Producer Kaeja d'Dance, Artworks Video.
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst) Institutions: $42.40 CAN (incl. gst)
3 DANCE FILMS ABOUT PLACE (2005)
Allen Kaeja and Douglas Rosenberg co-directed four dance films about place: Aroma, Site and Verge. All films feature dancers from Kaeja d'Dance and Chiao-Ping Li Dance Company. To view these spectacular films, click here.
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst) Institutions: $42.40 CAN (incl. gst)
LINOLEUM (2006)
In her directorial debut, Karen Kaeja brings an ethereal flavour to the beauty and turmoil that unfolds as the inevitable shift of time intensifies a fleeting relationship. Amidst a lush summer landscape, the playful and sacred bond between a young woman and her child is captured revealing the challenges and solitude of motherhood.
Director/Choreographer/Editor Karen Kaeja, Performers Celeste Lyon, Brandon Lockhart, Cinematographer Jeff Curtis and Composer Anne Bourne
ASYLUM OF SPOONS (2005)
Gemini nominated co-directors Allen Kaeja and Mark Adam bring you their newest dance film Asylum of Spoons - a chilling and evocative adaptation of the original stage work. Asylum of Spoons, Choreographed by Allen Kaeja with additional choreography by Karen Kaeja, chronicles the underlying fears, impulsive acts, unspoken desires, longings for acceptance and the power of overwhelming love in a truly eccentric family.
The film plays with a turn-of-the-century aesthetic and follows a dominant matriarch, played by Karen Kaeja, through her great manor as she strives to attain absolute control over her family. The viewer witnesses the family’s sacrifice of freedom and sanity, in exchange for their desperate cravings of safety, intimacy and need for sanctuary. We are impacted by the realization that the Matriarch’s efforts to achieve their unconditional love must come at a cost. The film challenges our inherent need for familial love against all odds.
Thousands of stainless steel spoons serve as poignant metaphors throughout the film as glittering instruments of currency, bait, jewelry, enforcement, passion and antagonism. These objects of desire establish the conflicts and hierarchies within the family who are driven by the Kaeja’s trademark athleticism and award winning choreography.
Karen Kaeja is mesmerizing in her performance as the domineering matriarch. Kaeja d’Dance’s exceptional performers propel Asylum of Spoons, evoking hunger, tender anguish, bizarre humour and gripping love. The film is a compelling imagistic narrative of contemporary dance, beautifully captured with stunning cinematography. In their eighth dance film together, the powerful artistically acclaimed team of Adam and Kaeja reveal their passionate vision in Asylum of Spoons.
Kaeja d’Dance’s resident composer Edgardo Moreno scores the film to create brilliant texture, along withdirector of photography Johnny Askwith, art director Jonathan Hobin and costume designer Cheryl Lalonde, instilling their artistic excellence into the work.
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst) Institutions: $42.40 CAN (incl. gst)
COFFEE SHOP (2004)
Directed by Allen Kaeja, Coffee Shop is lighthearted, comedic, situational humour, which plays with the conventions of dance film through untraditional dance partnering and relationships. It is a love story, a daydream or the warped imagination of an addicted coffee drinker.
Piotr Biernat portrays the coffee shop employee and Karen Kaeja performs as the mysterious customer. The film opens with the man closing up shop alone, as the woman boldly walks in and immediately initiates a duet with him. Viewers wonder if it is an existing relationship, a budding love story, or if it is his or her fantasy. The film fluctuates between a dream state and the edge of sanity. The imagistic nature of the coffee shop is abstracted into unlimited possibilities of table and counter tops, couches, and chairs - a dance floor that is as startling and varied as a Dali landscape. Coffee Shop is an evocative piece that stimulates our cultural imagination.
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $15.90 (incl. gst) Institutions: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst)
OLD COUNTRY (2004)
The Gemini nominated film, Old Country, was adapted from Allen Kaeja’s successful stage presentation, explores the dynamics of a community confronted with the imminent brutality of war. Shifting allegiances and values challenge the complex levels of relationship and connectedness. The ensemble cast shows how the fabric of a society can be stretched and torn in dark times.
Supported by the National Capital Commission and filmed on location in Ottawa, the nature of this film is both contemporary and historic. Beautifully filmed, Old Country was is a vivid depiction of two closely-knit communities (Jewish and Polish) living and interacting together. The film cuts back and forth between past and present, revealing a larger community in crisis. Poland has been invaded and the German forces will reach the town of Kutno in two days. Men are called off to war and begin to disappear. As the two communities erode, we witness the degradation of friendship, betrayal and loss of trust, where people turn their backs on one another in a time of crisis. Old Country premiered on CBC Television’s ‘Opening Night’ on March 18, 2004.
“The gorgeous camerawork and art direction aside, "Old Country" succeeds as cinema largely because it has a story to tell and it's told with honesty and tremendous clarity, both in the movement and in the filmmaking.” The Dance Current
Dancers: Piotr Biernat, Tara Butler, Amy Hampton, Karen Kaeja, Allen Kaeja, Susan Lee, Michael Sean Marye, Tim Spronk, Teena Walker, Aniya Kaeja and Mika Kaeja.
Co-Directors: Allen Kaeja and Mark Adam
Choreographer: Allen Kaeja with additional choreography by Karen Kaeja
Composer: Edgardo Moreno
Producer: Kaeja Productions
24 minutes
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst) Institutions: $42.40 CAN (incl. gst)
DEPARTURE (2003)
Departure is the story of the inter-relationship of a couple struggling to come to terms with their imminent separation because of impending war. Primarily a duet, the film traces the depth of relationship, sense of trust, and passion of a husband and wife impaled by circumstances beyond their control. Produced in association with Bravo!FACT, the CBC and the National Capital Commission, Departure was filmed on location in Ottawa and Aylmer, Quebec. Departure was nominated for an American Choreography Award.
“‘Departure’, a visually beautiful work co-directed by Mark Adam and Allen Kaeja, is yet another evocative venture by choreographer Kaeja into the world of Holocaust Europe.” - The Dance Current
Featured dancers: Karen Kaeja, Allen Kaeja and Michael Sean Marye. Additional dancers: Teena Walker, Amy Hampton, Susan Lee, Piotr Biernat, Tim Spronk, Tara Butler, Aniya Kaeja and Mika Kaeja.
Co-Directors: Allen Kaeja and Mark Adam
Choreographer: Allen Kaeja with additional choreography by Karen Kaeja
Composer: Edgardo Moreno
Producer: Kaeja Productions
7 minutes
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $15.90 (incl. gst) Institutions: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst)
RESISTANCE (2001)
An intensely emotional and physical piece, Resistance is the final chapter in Allen Kaeja's second trilogy about the Holocaust. Allen and co-director Mark Adam have set the film in three different time periods, 1939, 1942 and 1945 - the beginning, middle and end of the fighting in Poland. Resistance triumphantly espouses the survival of the human spirit, even in the most challenging of times. The film is based on Allen Kaeja’s stage version of the same name and was awarded the Certificate of Distinction from the American Dance Festival. Resistance was supported by the Bravo! Network in Canada.
Dancers: Johanna Bergfeldt, Tom Casey, Allen Kaeja, Karen Kaeja, Susan Lee, Michael Sean Marye and Teena Walker. Children: Aniya Kaeja, Mika Kaeja and Ella Martin Gladstone.
Co-Directors: Allen Kaeja and Mark Adam
Choreographer: Allen Kaeja
Composer: Edgardo Moreno.
Producer: Kaeja d’Dance
24 minutes
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst) Institutions: $42.40 CAN (incl. gst)
1939 (2001)
1939 is an excerpt of the 24-minute film Resistance. Allen and co-director Mark Adam have set the film in a turn of the century synagogue. The furnishings and benches become dangerous weapons, obstacles to overcome, coffins, walls of safety and barriers of confinement. The six dancers represent the Jewish uprising in the Warsaw ghetto, which led the Nazis to burn, bomb and level the ghetto. 1939 was supported by Bravo!FACT in Canada.
Dancers: Johanna Bergfeldt, Tom Casey, Allen Kaeja, Karen Kaeja, Susan Lee, Michael Sean Marye and Teena Walker. Children: Aniya Kaeja, Mika Kaeja and Ella Martin Gladstone.
Co-Directors: Allen Kaeja and Mark Adam
Choreographer: Allen Kaeja
Composer: Edgardo Moreno.
Producer: Kaeja d’Dance
7 minutes
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $15.90 (incl. gst) Institutions: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst)
ZUMMEL (1999)
Zummel is inspired from the stage version commissioned by NorrDans (Sweden), and based upon the first day of families being uprooted from their homes during WWII. Through stark contrast and featureless landscapes, the balance between community and personal flight to safety is highlighted through six individuals struggle for day-to-day existence. Zummel won 2nd Place – Camera Re-Work at the 2000 IMZ dance screen in Monaco France, 3rd place in the Intercom International Film Festival in Chicago and won the inaugural Moving Pictures award for Best Performance. Zummel was supported by Bravo!FACT in Canada.
Performers: Sylvie Bouchard, Philip Drube, Karen Kaeja, Allen Kaeja and Teena Walker.
Co-Directors: Allen Kaeja and Mark Adam
Choreographer: Allen Kaeja
Composer: Edgardo Moreno
Producers: Kaeja d’Dance, Mark Adam, Trisha McKell
7 minutes
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $15.90 (incl. gst) Institutions: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst)
SARAH (1999)
Sarah is based on the unknown destiny of the woman married to Allen's father prior to WWII. After they were sent off to different concentration camps, she was not seen again. We often wonder how she endured the separation, and how her instinct for survival affected her appearance, her demeanour, her direction. How did she face her will to survive, her premonitions and perhaps memories of a war and a loss of loved ones? The film is based on Allen and Karen Kaeja’s stage version of the same name. Sarah was supported by Bravo!FACT in Canada.
Performers: Karen Kaeja and Aniya Kaeja.
Co-Directors: Allen Kaeja and Mark Adam
Choreographers: Allen Kaeja and Karen Kaeja
Composer: Edgardo Moreno
Producers: Kaeja d’Dance, Mark Adam, Trisha McKell
6 minutes
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $15.90 (incl. gst) Institutions: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst)
WITNESSED (1997)
Witnessed is inspired from the stage work Courtyard, choreographed by Allen Kaeja. Allen delves into the times his family lived through during WWII by exploring the relationships of five individuals after months of forced confinement inside the Ghetto walls. The story of Witnessed is one of displacement, unrelenting fear and community support in a time of crisis. Witnessed placed second for "Camera Re-Work" finalist at the 1999 IMZ film festival in Germany. Witnessed was supported by Bravo!FACT in Canada.
Performers: Sylvie Bouchard, Philip Drube, Karen Kaeja, Susan Lee, David Zurak.
Co-Directors: Allen Kaeja and Mark Adam
Choreographer: Allen Kaeja
Composer: Edgardo Moreno
Producers: Kaeja d’Dance, Mark Adam, Trisha McKell
5 minutes
Price per film: DVD - Individuals: $15.90 (incl. gst) Institutions: $21.20 CAN (incl. gst)
